


The Mosquito's flower

by OneCoolCat



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Aaaand did I mention that this fic is extremely self-indulgent?, Attempting at recovery, Barely mha related. More so Toga being in the SU universe, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence (at the beginning), Bloody Kisses, Complicated Relationships, Crying, Eskimo Kisses, Extreeeeeeeeeeeemely self-indulgent. Like forreal, Extremely self- indulgent, F/M, Forehead Kisses, Gem Powers, Happy Ending, Happy moments - Freeform, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Hugs, MHA canon divergent/ Not canon compliant, Not so... slice of life.., Quirks (My Hero Academia), Rekindling relationships, Road Trips, Sad moments, Slice of Life, Steven just wants to help.., Talking About Trauma, having fun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-15 20:28:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 23,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29070312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneCoolCat/pseuds/OneCoolCat
Summary: After (insert manga spoilers here), Toga has had enough. She's gotten her answer and now she's determined to bring down the heroes once and for all. That is.. to recruit better villains to help aid the League of Villains in taking everyone else down. First step of her plan is heading to a place that could be of some use to her.New York City, New York.After being out on the road for nearly a year now and after travelling nearly the whole country as he finds himself and continues with his therapeutic journey, seventeen year old Steven Universe finally travels to one of the most popular, exciting cities the States have to offer before he travels back to Beach City to visit his family.New York City, New YorkSpoilers: Neither of the two's plans go through..
Relationships: Steven Universe/ Toga Himiko
Comments: 46
Kudos: 27





	1. The Plan

**Author's Note:**

> **Just for the record for this fic, (despite of it being in canon), quirks have only been discovered in Japan and Gems haven't ventured out from Beach City or the East Coast area. So neither Toga nor Steven would know about the other.**

_Tap, tap, click, tap, tap, tap_

Her fingers raced across the keyboard as she searched for the crucial information that would start her off on her plan.

Unlike everyone else's plan, _this_ one will work. 

Then, they will finally be rid of the rest of those heroes and she will continue to live as she wants to.

Her own life without having to worry about them ruining her own way of living and scowling in hatred at her own beliefs or lifestyle.

The teen's eyes narrowed at the screen of an old cellphone in front of her.

Memories of the battle.. of Chitose.. of Twice.. and Ochaco..

The scenes played over in her mind as she clicked heavy at the keyboard.

She'd gotten her answer just hours ago.

And she'd made her own decision at that moment.

This was another breaking point.

With everything that'd happened to her up until this point, she'd finally snapped. Again. And now she was finally going to show the world the heroes' twisted way of thinking. She and the rest of the villains, along with the new recruit were going to kill the rest of the heroes and then.. the world would start to see what Stain and everyone else was talking about.. was fighting for.

And she would _also_ have her revenge.. 

The teen scrolled down the screen to look at the flight information.

One flight in particular had caught her eye. 

A flight from Tokyo to New York with one layover in between.

That would do. She didn't want to wait any longer. She had to strike as fast and as brutal as she could and she would have to think and act fast. 

Japan only had low crime criminals, people that weren't as useful or strong or as smart as they were. She needed more. She needed much more. They needed better people. 

If watching Hollywood movies and watching nationwide news taught her anything, was that the most hardcore thugs and criminals and the toughest people were in one lone city and in one line city alone in America.

And that worthy, beautiful place, was New York City, New York. 

She clicked off of the website and locked the screen. She put the phone in a jean pocket of her new shorts and held a light brown strap of an accessory bag over her shoulder.

First step, go to the airport. Then, she'll make her move and start from there.

A soft chuckle was heard in an alley as the teen stepped over the dead corpse of her victim. 

"Time for the villains to finally shine." she whispered and the smile could be heard in her voice despite of the large, purple scarf covering the bottom of her face.

She walked out of the alley casually and turned up the clean, quiet sidewalk in the late evening of the near empty city.

Several people walked pass her as they went on with their business. None of them having the slightest inkling on what was to happen to them once her plan finally unfolds.

And even that was enough to send a nice shiver down her spine.


	2. The secret arrival

A figure wearing long, dark blue pants and a light blue shirt with a dark blue tie was climbing over the top of the last stall. He landed on the floor and fixed the dark blue cap on his graying hair. 

Just a quick look in the mirror at himself and the man turned away and started his walk to the exit of the bathroom as he fixed the light brown bag over his shoulder. His own self laying slumped back on the toilet as blood steadily slid from his collar bone, drenching the top of his shirt and his tie. 

The policeman walked out to the shiny, tiled flooring of the wide open, busy building. Crowds of people walked or hurried up and down the opened area as they made their way to the airline ticket counters or to the security checkpoints. 

The officer proceeded to walk pass his potential victims and made it towards a narrow security point held only for flight crew and authorized personnel. Two TSA agents sat in their chairs at either side of the narrow hallway. Beside one TSA agent was a white wall that stopped just a few yards from the woman. The wall divided her off from the security checkpoint. Their co-workers worked on the opposite side of the wall as they naivagted and helped the passengers through the security lines.

A white sign at chest level laid at the middle of the exit way. The words **立入禁止** in red letters at the top, accompanied by **禁止入内** underneath of it. Underneath of that, **Do not enter**.

The officer proceeded to walk pass the sign and towards one of the agents. He grabbed at the lanyard around his neck as the agent bowed to him. She greeted him, he showed the woman his badge and he was granted access to the secured area of the airport.

The TSA agents looked at the light brown accessory bag with a mottled pink and yellow butterfly etched onto the fabric of it. 

They looked back at each other, not saying anything. The latter raising an eyebrow at the other. 

  
  


  
  


The officer walked towards the display screens. 

It was all so easy.

Going to the airport as her first victim, then making her next move, killing the officer, transforming into him and successfully walking into the airport.

What an admirable, essential quirk she had.

Everything was happening so quick and so easy.

The policeman stopped and turned to the flight information display screens.

Flights both in bound and out bound were displayed in vertical rows down the large screens.

His eyes stopped at one particular flight: The plane from Tokyo to Toronto was to board in forty minutes. 

It would only be a matter of time before someone notices the policeman missing. However, if all goes well, nobody may notice him until hours later when a cleaning personnel notices the stall still locked. 

The officer made his way to towards the gate.

Now he would have to wait for the flight crew to go to the gate. 

But before then, he would have to think of a plan to lure one of the flight attendants to him in order for him to make his next move..

  
  


  
  


"And they need you to search the plane?"

"Yes. Due to what has been happening with the league of villains, we have been increasing our security. Now we have to do checks on both departure and arival flights."

The ticket agent took a quick glance down at his bag and back up at the older gentleman. Her look seemed skeptical and a bit hesitant, though she gave him another modest bow. "Of course sir. The flight attendants and the pilots are currently doing their checks." 

A slight nod of his head and he walked pass her.

Inconspicuously, the woman's eyes followed the policeman as he walked pass. The woman not turning around until seconds later to see him walking down the jet bridge.

The officer walked down to the bottom where the plane met the jet bridge. The cockpit door was open as one of the flight crew was checking the food onboard.

"Good morning." 

He turned around and noticed the stoic looking officer. "Good morning." he said swiftly and went for a bow towards the policeman.

"I'm here to do my own security check on the plane." 

The flight attendant was more nonchalant than the ticket agent, immediately welcoming the policeman inside of the plane. "Of course, officer." 

He stepped inside and walked pass the attendant. 

Two separate rows were in front of him. Three connecting seats on either side of the rows with three connecting seats in the middle. The rows going far towards the back of the plane.

He made a brisk walk towards the back. 

This should be easy if nobody sees him.

He passed by eight other attendants, all of them greeting him with a bow and a friendly, "Good morning officer."

He made it to the end of the plane to one of the two bathrooms. 

He opened it.

This was her chance.

He walked just a few rows back down before seeing several nearby flight attendants. "Excuse me. Did anyone come to check this bathroom yet?" 

Several flight attendants nearby looked at him and with short exchanges that revolved around, "No" and "Not yet", one attendant walked up to him.

"Shouldn't be anything to be alarmed about." he said to calm the woman. 

The last thing she would need would be for the lady to grow more tense or dare she say, even a bit suspicious of her.

She needs to be swift with this.

The officer opened the door and stepped to the side. That itch accompanied by a strong feeling of revenge already filling inside him. 

He peered inside and with a gesture of his hand he said, "The toilet seat has blood on it."

"Blood?" the attendant wondered. The officer grabbed at the brown bag on his side as she stepped cautiously inside and looked at the clean, white toilet seat to her side-

A heavy weighted object slammed into the back of her head. 

_"Your_ blood." he quipped with a low chuckle. 

He looked down at the woman laying unconscious on the floor. Just a light smear of her blood on the side of the toilet.

  
  


  
  


The flight attendant was coming back down the hall from the bathroom. Her co-workers were still doing their checks.

She chose any row on the left side of the first aisle and began checking the foldable tables on the back of the seats. 

"Yamaguchi-san." 

The attendant continued her own checks as she looked within the pockets on the back of the chairs just underneath of the trays.

"Yamaguchi-san."

The woman leaned up from the chairs and looked at the overhead bins. She saw a figure walking towards her. "Yamaguchi-san."

She turned around to see her co-worker approaching her. "I was trying to get your attention." she told her. 

The attendant tilted her head. "Oh. Guess I must've been so into my work. Hmph." she smiled.

"I see." her co-worker nodded with a cordial smile of her own. She pointed at the rows beside her. "We already checked those rows and the crew and I are already done with our checks." 

She turned to face her as she nearly blurted out softly, "Then we can start boarding." 

"Yes." she nodded. "We just informed the ticket agents to start the boarding process so the passengers should be coming down soon."

She couldn't resist a smirk coming to her face. "Then I'll let everyone get to their seats." she started her walk down the aisle towards her co-worker. 

The woman started her walk down the aisle in front of the attendant when she heard the woman speak back up, "Oh and by the way." 

She turned around.

"We need to inform the passengers that the left lavatory at the back of the plane is out of service." she tried for a frown but it looked more pleased than upset. Her mind practically imagining the woman now laying dead on the floor with knife wounds in her back. The enticing blood soaking her uniform. "Nothing major, something is wrong with the toilet flusher." the corners of her mouth turned up slightly as she tried to resist a smile. "I already took care of it. I locked up the facilities." 

"Weird.. the last flight crew didn't tell us about this.." 

"Perhaps they wanted to save face." she leaned towards the woman and whispered, "You know how the company can be." 

"Yes.. yes, I suppose you're right." she looked at her and nodded. "I'll make an announcement once everyone is on board." 

"Gooood." and her façade broke away and a grin came to her face.

The two proceeded to walk to the front of the plane just as the first passenger walked on board the aircraft.

"Good morning." another co-worker by the cockpit greeted him with a bow.

The woman in front of the attendant turned from the aisle and pass the middle row of seats and towards the second aisle of the plane.

The attendant decided to choose a row herself, choosing anyone and that was a row towards the front of the plane and near the middle seats. She stood there as more passengers began to board the plane.

A fake smile was on her face as she greeted a handful of people without so much as a bow or a nod of her head.

Her mind still thinking back on what happened just yesterday.. and her mind painfully having to wait for her plan to finally come into play..

  
  


The boarding process was complete within thirty-two minutes. Her co-worker had made an announcement about the bathroom, followed by the in-flight announcement before takeoff.

Everyone was settled in, everything was set and the plane was in the air minutes later.

Not too long after that, the captain had turned off the Fasten Seatbelt Sign and it was time for the attendant and her co-workers to give out snacks to the passengers.

The attendant was coming down the hall with the snack cart. Her dark brown eyes looking sharply left and right at so many people sitting on the plane.

So many people. So many potential victims in one place..

"Would you like for your tea to be heated up more?" a co-worker asked on the other side of the aisle. 

"Yes. Please." said the elderly woman.

The woman held the cup in her hand and the tea inside began to heat up. More steam wafted up from the cup. She sat the cup on the tray in front of the senior. "There, here you go ma'am."

The attendant looked away and continued her walk down the aisle, trying to ignore that burning, vengeful feeling she still had in her chest. 

She grabbed hold of the handle of the cart firmly in her hands as she slowed her pace, looking at everyone sitting in their seats as they slept, played on their electronics or talked amongst themselves.

She had to contain herself..

The attendant looked forward as her legs continued slowly down the aisle. 

  
  


  
  


The first flight more or less went by smoothly.

Aside from a slight delay due to the weather in Toronto, then turbulence onboard, the flight from Toronto to New York was easy.

Though she didn't care for using the same tactic like the one she performed back in Tokyo, with such a drastic call and a need for a quick leave out of the airport, she went for it once more; Turning back into her first victim from before, taking the bag out of the overhead bin and making a quick leave with the rest of the passengers while the flight attendants stayed on board. She turned back into the officer, went with the "security check" routine and was able to lure in an attendant.

There, the same game plan worked out. 

  
  


Passengers were leaving out of the plane while some were still packing up. 

The young woman held her light brown handbag as she walked behind a line of people steadily exiting out of the aircraft.

She walked by several flight attendants on her path as they said their goodbye's to them.

"Where's Charlotte?" she heard one of the attendants ask somewhere behind her.

"I just saw her a few moments ago." his co-worker responded back to him.

The girl smirked as she walked out of the plane.

  
  


  
  


The young woman was leaving out of the airport. The warm air of cigarette smoke, exhaust and both cheap and expensive perfume filled the air as loud horns, people yelling at each other and calling for taxis mixed in with the roaring noise of the tunnel and the planes behind her.

'Welcome to New York City. The city that never sleeps', she'd read on a bright sign at one point while leaving security. 

And just like her, she wouldn't sleep until she got her revenge and her win over the heroes.

She stepped into the bus heading towards the city.

Before she'd destroyed the phone in Toronto and left the bits of remnants in several trashcans, she'd double checked the map on where to go. 

In order to get to the heart of the city, she would have to take two buses.

The young woman handed the tired, passionless driver the money. Something else she'd done before leaving security. Converting the girl's money into U.S currency. 

She was handed a ticket and she began walking toward the middle of the bus.

With the early afternoon approaching, she was going to go straight into her plan. Scouting.

She would be extra careful in laying low, something she was so used to doing and something she'd succeeded in for so long.

She sat down on the bus and placed the bag on her lap.

In time..

In short time..

Her scheme will come together and she would go back with her own army. 

Scout out for the real deals here.

Then she would start her recruit tomorrow.

  
  


The young woman got off of the bus and into the noisy city. Steamed seeped up from pot holes and cars blared their horns as people's talked loudly from separate sides of the street. 

Nothing she was unfazed about in the slightest, though one particular thing was now in her mind. This feel of time ticking away from her. 

Tourists were busy taking pictures of the bright, shiny billboards and tall buildings.

She power walked pass them and the other victims native to the area and went to find as secured of an area she could find. 

That area in particular was a shady little nook of an alley beside a rundown Pizzería.

Inconspicuously, she looked to see if anyone was watching before making a quick run into the alley. She ran to a dead end filled with trash and two dumpsters.

She hid on the side of one of the dumpsters and crouched down and opened her bag.

She could already feel herself running low on her victim's blood. 

She would have to strategize accordingly. 

She only had six canisters, with one full of the first victim's, purposely not using the other canisters for the policeman or the two flight attendants. The other five empty and for potential victims that she deemed would be worthy of transforming into for longer periods of time. 

Now wasn't the time to use the one canister she did have. 

She would use it if the situation asked for it, but for now she will go as herself. If anyone happens to notice her, she would use it then. 

The last of the oozing matter slid off of her and to the ground. She put her clothes on and attached one of her green utility boxes to her thigh and slid it farther up and under her skirt. She opened the handbag once more and pulled out a plastic bag from it. A bag she'd gotten from a nearby shop in Tokyo. 

She stood back up and threw the light brown handbag into the dumpster and began to walk down the alley. 

Time for the next step.

To scout.

She stepped out of the alley and to the busy sidewalk of the city. The huge, tall looming buildings and flashing lights of the billboards surrounding her.

  
  


_Now.. who will be my first recruit?_

She took her first step. Her shoe splashing into a shallow puddle in a divot of the cracked cement. 


	3. The same day..

A nice, cool splash of water hit his face. 

He twisted the two knobs of the sink and turned the water off. 

Droplets trickled down and collected at his chin. One, two drops fell from his skin and into the counter. 

A young teen was smiling at himself in the mirror. Something that he did before he started his day and something that worked well for him. 

_Okay Steven Universe. Time for a good day today._

Just a friendly little reminder he gave himself as an extra boost for good measure.

He turned around to a small hook on the shiny, teal coloring of the bathroom. 

He took the white hand towel from the hook and gently pat at his face.

It was a nice, refreshing feeling to smell the well laundered material of the towel and the soft fabric on his skin.

It was the opposite of having to wash up outside of his car on days when he would decide to camp out or sleep in his vehicle.

For the passed couple of weeks he'd been doing one or the other as he made his way from Massachusetts to Rhode Island and to Connecticut and over towards New York.

He finally decided that he would rent a nice room in a hotel. A sort of, go big or go home sort of thing.

He was in New York City of all places. One of the top tourist spots in the States. In the _world_.

Steven placed the towel back on the hook and stepped out of the room in his towel.

He walked across the fuzzy light blue carpet and to the bed where he'd already laid his clothes. The laptop that he'd used earlier for his pleasant therapy session just an hour ago still opened and on sleep mode.

The therapy session that he almost missed due to him nearly oversleeping _due_ to him finally getting a good night's rest in an actual bed that must've been made out of clouds and marshmallows and sprayed with fresh oranges and lilacs.

He couldn't wait to venture out into the city, but he also couldn't wait to get back into the nice smelling, soft hotel bed tonight to have another good night's sleep. 

Steven put on his pink varsity jacket and woke up the laptop, only to shut it down.

He placed the laptop on the dresser and grabbed his room key.

He would just have a quick bite to eat before venturing out into the big city streets.

  
  


  
  


Steven was placing his trash inside of the bin. 

After looking at the many vegetarian choices, he'd decided to go with the peachy quinao breakfast bake. It was something not too heavy on his stomach and something that wasn't too light. And most importantly it was healthy. 

Steven walked out of the revolving doors and to the smooth paved ground. In front of him was a young gentleman in charge of the valet.

"Well, I'll let you have your fun. Can't have your old man cutting into your sightseeing time." his dad told him.

"Don't worry dad, you didn't." he tucked his hand in his jacket pocket. "And well, I sort of already cut into my _own_ sightseeing time oversleeping." 

"That's just your body giving you some much needed rest." 

Steven walked pass the attendant and ventured farther from the hotel underneath of its awning. "Heh, yeah, I guess so." he stepped out into the sunlight and that only made him even more excited to see the city in such a sunny afternoon. "But I'll be sure to get some more rest tonight." 

"Sounds like a plan." he said lightheartedly. 

Steven nodded, despite of him being on the phone. He let out a chuckle as he slowly made his way up the sidewalk. Just across the street from him was a billboard far above him, advertising a play that he wouldn't mind watching during one of his stays in the city. 

"I'll talk to you later, dad." 

"Talk to you later son. Have fun."

"I will." and he added before his dad hang up. "And I can't wait to see everyone when I get back."

"I can't either-!" his dad stopped and cleared his throat over his son's gentle chuckle and said in a more leveled voice, "The Gems and I can't wait to see you either. We're practically at the edge of our seats over here." 

Steven scratched at his hair. "Yeah, I can only imagine." he said. "And I am too. I can't wait to see Little Homeworld and the rest of Beach City and.." he shrugged bashfully. "I can't wait to just be back at the temple. I.. really miss everyone." 

"We miss you too." 

It'd been almost a year now since he'd been to Beach City. 

He left and went towards the south first; traveling down and to the west and going back up north and back down to the south until he reached southern California before traveling back up North one last time and heading back towards the East coast from Oregon. Then heading down from Maine to New York.

He'd travelled to a few cities and was in the Bronx just yesterday. The next plan was to visit the rest of New York before driving to Pennsylvania, then driving over to New Jersey and down to Delaware, then to Maryland and then driving to the last spot being Beach City where he planned to stay for two or three weeks.

The travels were long and sometimes difficult as he drove with just himself without the Gems or Connie or anyone from Beach City with him aside from phone calls or face chat.

Nevertheless, he really needed time to himself and for himself. A road trip to find his self and to explore the world and to be human and to focus on his own journey was what he needed and his therapy sessions was that extra push he needed to continue on with his life.

The two had exchanged their last few parting words before Steven reassured his dad again that he was going to have fun and keep getting his rest. And with a final, "See you later." to his dad, he went to his maps.

There was so many things to do in New York City. There was seeing the Statue of Liberty, taking ferry rides, walking around Central Park, going to the M&M store, standing in front of the Good morning America window and standing in the heart of time square, going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, going to the Museum of Modern Art, driving across the Brooklyn Bridge and so. much. more. 

Steven double checked his maps before locking his phone and putting it in his jean pocket.

Where his hotel was located, the first thing he was planning on seeing was the Central Park Tower. The tallest residential building in New York City.

Instead of using his car that was still parked in the garage, he was planning to walk about in the loud, lively city and use the various means of public transportation to travel around in a way to sightsee better and to really get a feel of the city. 

He continued his walk up the street.

According to his maps, he would have to take the train four stops up and get off and walk up just two more blocks. 

Quick and very convenient, like the other touristy attractions in the city.

Steven tucked his other hand in his jacket pocket as he moseyed up the street, looking at the high rise buildings and billboards and getting a nice smell of fresh sourdough pretzels.

  
  


  
  


"Stand. back. Doors. closing." the train said through the speakers. 

The doors closed behind Steven as he walked with several other people across the dull, gray tiled platform of the station.

Another train going the opposite way had pulled off just seconds before on a second track and another group of people were heading towards them. The two handfuls of people merging together as they walked towards two elevators. 

One elevator opened and the five, six people from the train opposite them had walked in, leaving one other young man from his train and Steven himself to be the last two people to walk in before the elevator become too full. 

Steven squeezed in at the front and stood beside another person who was leaning casually on the wall of the elevator. 

The people inside moved around as they tried to get situated and someone stepped beside Steven and to the front of him. He took a step away to give the man some more standing room and ended up bumping into the person on the other side of him. "Oh, sorry about.." he forced out the last word, "that.." 

It was that feeling of when a rollercoaster reaches its peak and begins to curve down for its first plummet, or something coming towards your eyes and you throw your hands up in the air to block it or when you misread a clock through blurry eyes and read it as a late time. 

It's that first initial shock, that dread, that fear that hits your chest instantly and spreads throughout your body. 

That's exactly how it felt when he locked eyes with the person's he'd made a mistake bumping into. 

Maybe it was the yellow eyes or.. the way she glared at him.

Maybe it was the wild look of her hair or the oversized blue collar that had this.. odd design that resembled an awful lot like teeth.. 

Just that moment, everything seemed to stop as they both stared and glared at each other respectively. 

Throughout his travels Steven had came across people from various walks of life for the passed eleven months. 

There were even times when he was fazed by a few people, especially those who had resembled Homeworld Gems or the Diamonds. There was even that one time when he came across someone that had reminded him of Ronaldo. 

Those instances he'd went pink or almost had a mini panic attack or just had a really bad nauseated feeling in his stomach and a dampened mood for the whole day. 

Then there were just.. some people that looked shady or mean or just not approachable. 

More or less with all of his traveling he'd gotten used to seeing those particular people. 

But this was different. 

Despite of him coming across many people with glares or snarls or pouting expressions. Or those with frown lines or anger in their eyes or a mischievous look to their faces, he'd never actually came across someone that made him feel so uncomfortable. 

He'd even came across people that had given him bad vibes. 

But again, this was different. 

This girl, that couldn't had been any older than he was, practically had this really.. eery atmosphere about her. 

He didn't know what it was but he couldn't look away. It was like this invisible hold, this magnetic force that wouldn't pull his eyes away from those creepy.. yellow contact lenses of hers..-

Someone was generous enough to press the button on the elevator and the elevator began to go up to the top floor.

What felt like hours between them was only seconds..

He watched the girl tilt her head up and with a rather conceited pucker to her lips she said with such an impertinent tone to her voice, "You should really watch where you're going." maybe he was imagining a slight twitch of her glaring eye or imagining her hand going to the bottom of her skirt before dropping back down and gripping hold of the bar of the elevator instead. 

"I.. didn't mean to.." he trailed off. His brain now processing the cat-like fangs she had.. 

Maybe he was reading too much into this.

He'd came across rude people before, plenty of times during his travel. And he'd travelled through cities where conventions were going on.

This was just some rude teen going to some convention from the looks of it.

This bad vibe that he was feeling was.. probably just misplaced..

Still.. even with.. that smirk she now had as she looked passionately at him.. the girl still didn't sit right with him.

Wait..

Why was she smiling at him like that-?

The elevator doors opened and people began to walk pass him, some bumping into him or brushing pass him and saying a few words of annoyance as they made their hurried way out of the elevator. The teen slipping pass him in the process as she held onto her plastic bag. He watched her as she walked with the crowd. 

Moments later and Steven all but pull his legs out of what felt like invisible quicksand as he stepped out of the elevator, the doors stopping abruptly and sliding back in as he did. 

He watched the girl walk up the stairs as the elevator doors closed behind him. His legs went to push off in a run to her when he realized and asked himself.. what was he doing?

Going after her? And why exactly? To ask her why she was so rude? Get a clue as to why he has such an incredibly apprehensive, nervous feeling around her? 

He went for a slow walk instead towards the stairs.

What happened was unsettling to him. Or rather, not the situation but more so it was just _her_. 

She just.. really, _really_ gave off this very creepy, nefarious presence and even now, with her long gone his skin was still chilling off the feel of abhorrence. 

He tried shaking those memories out of his head.

So he had one bad, creepy encounter. That shouldn't deter him away from having fun or stop him from making this a good day.

And he wasn't going to let her get in the way of his road trip.

Steven walked up the steps and he felt his eyes glance over to the left in an attempt to see if he would find her-

He snapped his eyes back in front of him as he turned right and walked the opposite way of where she went. 

_Don't think about her._

_Don't think about those creepy, yellow eyes.. or that evil glare to them._

_Don't think about the wide, box-y Cheshire cat teeth on the oversized collar and don't worry about that.._ extremely _bad feeling you had just by simply standing_ next _to her.._

_This is supposed to be about you and for you to not worry about anyone else right now._

_Just focus on having a good- No, an_ amazing _day today._

_And that means walking up another block and a half to the Central Park Tower and looking at the tall building and taking lots of pictures before going to the next thing on your To-do list._

Steven stopped at a crosswalk as traffic drove pass him.

He was going to have fun and forget about that freaky encounter.

It was just some rude teen going to some convention or someone who liked to dress up. Nothing more.

The light turned red and the green man appeared on a nearby sign above them as a sound of fast consecutive loud beeps sounded from the small speaker. 

He walked across the street with a handful of other passerby as he made his way to the first tourist site, all while still trying to ignore those yellow contacts and those fake fanged teeth of hers..


	4. Sightseeing in NYC

"Whoaa~~"

Steven was staring up at the tall 95 story Skyscraper.

The sleek look of it, the shiny, sun reflecting windows and just the sheer height of it was something he couldn't help but gawk at.

It was impressive and just by reading the history that humans did this. Ones with no Gem powers and who had to rely on being suspended in the air by various machines and had to rely on their own handiwork made it that much more impressive.

It was a sight to see.

Something that wasn't built by Gems or with their own Homeworld tech.

Something handmade. Something that _humans_ made.

And, once again, like the other various, famous monuments he'd came across during his travels, it was refreshing to see how strong and important and capable that human beings could be. 

And, he was happy to be like them. Even if he wasn't entirely. It was still nice to be apart of them.

Steven kept his slow pace as he looked at the stories of the building and its many windows.

_I wonder how many hours it would take to wash all of those?_

_A lot._

Steven took his time walking around the building. He'd even taken pictures of the majestic towering skyscraper along with crowds of other tourists. 

He'd put the photos into his "Pictures to share with family" Album and had continued his walk around the building. 

"Can't believe they made something so tall.." he furrowed his brows in wonder. "And they can't even fly or float." the confused shock look on his face turned into an impressed smile. "But it's cool they were able to do this." 

He took another long stare at the building. He let his eyes scope out the bottom of the building once more before slowly raising them to the very top. 

It was still just as impressive as he first looked at it.

Slowly and with a small, content smile on his face, he began to walk away from the skyscraper.

He nodded to himself. "Seen the Central Park Tower. I can check that off of my list." he walked across the street. "Now, to take a nice stroll around one of the most iconic parks in the States.

  
  


  
  


Steven was sitting on one of the iconic rocks he'd seen on various movies.

He was actually in Central. Park.

He was actually in Central Park and sitting on the Umpire rock amongst tourists and locals alike and.. simply relaxing and being amongst them. Feeling the breeze through his curls and watching the green, well flourished trees dance softly around them. 

He'd walked with no haste in his step as he toured through the trees, strolling up and down the mall _which he'd learned while doing research on what to do in NYC just days ago_ that the "mall" was actually _not_ a mall like the ones you shop at but a specific area to walk around in and look at other scenic spots. 

And he did; going to the Bethesda Terrace and taking multiple pictures of the architecture and the fountain and strolling up the rest of his 'literary walk' and watching the passerby be just as in awe at the scenic route just as much as him.

He really enjoyed the atmosphere and as he placed an arm on his knee as he gazed at the beautiful summer view in front of him, he realized more just how far he came and how so much had changed from his time as a thirteen year old Crystal Gem and dealing with his trauma and slowly getting through it up until this point in his life.

He still needs more time with his therapy and time to his self, sure, but overall he'd came a long way and he was proud and genuinely happy at how he turned out overall. 

He smiled peacefully as he overlooked the people walking their dogs or jogging or pushing their strollers. Some doing two or all three. 

From where he was sitting, he could see the Central Park Tower and the rest of the stunning buildings beside it and beyond it.

What a peaceful, serene feeling to simply be himself without anything to fear and no one else to fight.

He'd made it.

He'd finally made it and he was now living in this new chapter in his life that he couldn't wait to write more of. 

He couldn't wait to explore more of New York City and more of the New York State in general and the remaining States he'd yet to visit before travelling back to his old stomping grounds and feeling that warm welcome and that wholesome, genuine love from his family and the townies of Beach City.

He slid his arm from his knee and laid his back on the flat rock as he rested his head over his folded arms. 

The white, cumulus clouds above him coasted along the blue sky. 

The smile stayed on his face.

He would rest here for a bit. He could waste just a bit more time before heading off and doing something else in the exciting city of New York.


	5. A slow moving plan..

She stood inside of the Ferry Whitehall Terminal.. 

Golden eyes looked left and right as they looked intently over the water and at the several boats sailing across it. 

She was still scouting and still on her patrol.

But...

Her hands grabbed tightly at the railing as she narrowed her eyes at the view below her of a ferry docked at a terminal directly beneath her.

.. her plan of finding people to recruit _wasn't_ going as planned.. 

It'd been three hours of her looking around in this city yet she found no one. No trace of anyone as a potential villain. 

Nobody.

Here she was in one of the most ruthless cities and yet, there was nothing happening but tourists and locals being in the way and an occasionally dolly camera or two filming in the area.

But. no. crimes..

No villains wrecking havoc in the city, not even a petty criminal stealing out of a grocery store.

Nothing was happening.

.. _Say_ for the people roaming around the city without so much as a care in the world. 

No care in world.

.. because they were deemed as normal _and_ due to their gullible hope on the heroes.

Two sad things to have imbedded in their minds.

The teen looked behind herself. 

Crowds of people laughed and chatted around her as the smell of perfume and hotdogs filled the air from every breeze that gently wafted by.

Look at them.

It was just like how Stain said.

So much hope in the fake symbol of peace and even with him gone they were still holding onto the peace and hope from these other heroes.

Walking about.. going about their days as if nothing has been happening for the passed year.

She glared at them.

But.. the villains _will_ win.

It was just the beginning and the heroes knew nothing of their plans and with a plan of her own everything will finally fall into place. 

The teen turned back around and watched the passengers continue to board the ferry.

They will defeat the heroes and then.. the people in the society will finally know the truth. 

And.. she'll also be free to continue doing what she loves.

Everyone will walk about with their quirks and she will too. Regardless of her upbringing, of her Quirk Counseling.. of the mindless society trying to mold her into their definition of normal..

And the true heroes will come to the fore while the fake ones fall into their own holes and dig themselves deeper into them.

Stain is right. And the heroes aren't.

Especially when so many of those said fake heroes have such a twisted view of who are deemed to be the right to save and not. 

A pang hit her chest and for just a deep, long moment she nearly felt the rush of emotion come back to her eyes.

She blinked them back.

This will also be her revenge.

The heroes have already gotten their rude awakening more than once.

Now it was time to settle the score and finish the final battle once and for all.

She watched the last few passengers board the boat.

Once.. and for all.

As inpatient as she felt, she had to continue with this tedious part of her plan and continue to scout out those potential recruits.

But with nothing happening here, she'll go to another spot.

The heart of Time Square should be the right place.

She leaned off of the rail.

She would go there now.

She will proceed with her plan-

A familiar figure in a pink varsity jacket with black, curly hair caught her eye.

The stocky, smiling boy was by the railing of the ferry and looking out into the water. 

He looked so happy and so carefree as he watched the quivering, overlapping ripples in the water from the roaring motor behind the boat. 

The teen turned back to face the boat beneath her.

It was the same boy she saw on the elevator.. 

Her head tilted down slightly as she watched him. 

_Mm.. that little cutie I saw earlier._

Her eyes narrowed on him. 

_The one who bumped into me.._

She rubbed the plastic handle of the bag between her thumb and two fingers as that itch slowly started to come back to her. 

_He's lucky there were so many witnesses around._

She rubbed the plastic between her fingertips slower.. harder. 

_Otherwise he would've been my next victim._

_But.. I had to resist. I had to hold back._

_I didn't need to ruin my plan so early in the game._

She watched as he pulled out his cell phone and held it up in his outstretched arm. He made a peace sign with his other hand and smiled as he took a picture of himself. He brought the phone back down and began to type as the smile still lingered on his friendly, giddy face. 

A small smirk managed to come to her own, though it was more menacing than complacent. 

_Though I still can't help but wonder how he would've looked covered in his own blood._

She watched him bring the phone back up in front of him for another picture. He brought his hand up to his chin and winked with a pucker of his lips. 

_How it would've tasted.._

He took a picture and went back to typing on his phone. 

_How close I would've been to him in that very moment.._

He took another picture. This one of the water as the ferry began to sail off after a loud blow of its horn. 

_I could've been close to him.._

_Close to him like how close I am to Izuku.._

_We could've shared a bond. I could've gotten close to him. I could've been him.. and shared that special bond.. that oneness.._

Her eyes watched the boy as he took a few more pictures before walking towards the front of the ferry as it steadily sailed towards its destination. 

_I hold back just a bit longer with everyone else and my plan won't fall through._

_I go with my plan then I won't ever have to hold back who I am anymore._

Her smirk spread into a miscehvuous grin.

_As if I had to do that in the first place._

She turned around and walked away from the railing.

Perhaps this time something will happen.

Time Square is always full of surprises.

Maybe a surprise will happen then..

She walked pass the crowd of oblivious people.

Scout..

Hold back just a little longer..

And everything will come together.

She held the bag tightly in her hand as she made her trek across the ground of the station.

Every second mattered. She needed to scout, recruit and head back to the League of Villains.

And if she knew two things about being in this group, was that they will always be three steps ahead of the heroes.

And that one day, soon.. they'll be holding onto that victory over the heroes. 

For good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all folks are enjoying the story thus far ~o~
> 
> Stay tuned for more :)
> 
> And I want to thank everyone who have commented, kudoed, bookmarked and subscribed to this fic! 
> 
> That only makes me want to write more! Lol. 
> 
> I appreciate y'all! ^_^


	6. Only in New York City

Steven was in awe yet again. 

He was looking over the city of New York.

Of ACTUAL New York City.

The city of bright, flashing lights.

The city where people go to start and follow their dreams.

The city that never sleeps.

THE city.

He was right in it. 

He was now right in New York City and inside of the crown of the Statue of Liberty. 

He can scratch that off of his bucket list now.

The teen smiled as he looked a the high rises and tall buildings. He could see the well cut grass, the water, the rocks and the passers-by.

He'd already taken a few pictures and saved them to his folder. He'd even taken a video where he panned from left to right and all the way down for the camera to look at just how high up he was.

He's going to have to send a lot of photos and videos from nice he gets back to the hotel.

Steven looked down one last time to see the front of the Statue of Liberty and the pedestal she was standing on before looking up at the famous torch.

It was all so grand and impressive..

He leaned away from the rail but kept his eyes on the ever vibrant, busy city.

Just like being at the mall, not too long ago, he could see himself standing here for hours. 

But there were other things that he wanted to do on his first day in New York City.

He backed away and two more tourists took his spot.

He casually took his walk towards the spiraling stairs to the next floor beneath him.

  
  


  
  


  
  


"And here's your change, Sir." the cashier handed Steven a five dollar bill and a few coins.

"Thanks." he put the change in his pocket. He looked up at the tired, bored looking cashier and pointed at a small, little black machine beside the register. "And.. do you mind if I get a bit of receipt paper please?" he smiled. "And a pen?"

The boy nodded silently and pressed a small gray button on top of the machine. The receipt paper slid out of the machine slowly with a sound of a soft buzz.

He ripped the paper from the teeth of it and picked up a pen laying horizontally in between the space between the buttons of the register. 

He handed the two items to Steven.

"Thanks. Again." he ripped the paper in two and began writing on one of them. 

**For Amethyst**

He slid over the next paper.

**For Onion**

He handed the pen back to the cashier and began sliding over one of the two piles of candy.

For the last hour and a half he'd taken his time in the famous M&M store, trying to figure out what would be nice for Amethyst and Onion. After a lot of thought, he'd found what he needed and more. 

Now it was just giving all of the candy to them.

Hopefully they wouldn't eat all of it in one sitting.

_Amethyst.._

Steven placed the receipt paper on top of the pile of candy. He placed a gently hand over it and touched the top candy of the pile.

A pink sphere formed around it and the sleepy eyes of the cashier snapped open wide.

He watched Steven pick up the sphere and give it a light tap at the top. It floated up before vanishing instantly.

He blinked multiple times and watched Steven do the same for the second pile. After placing the receipt paper on top, he placed an opened hand over it and once his skin touched the top of the candy, a pink sphere formed around it. 

He picked up the pink bubble and tapped the top of it. It floated up before vanishing. 

"Y,.. you're one of those Gems that I've been hearing about." the big sputtered.

"Yeaah?" Steven stood there cautiously. He was either going to be greeted with jealousy or hate or skepticism or with adoration or interest.

Either one, he was more or less accustomed to dealing with at this point in his travels.

"I've only heard about how some of the Gems came to Earth to live and I've seen some of you guys on t.v."he leaned on the counter and Steven took a step back. "Dude, can I see your gem?!" his eyes were wide with fascination. He gasped. "Can I touch it!"

"Uh.." Steven shook his head slowly. "No.."

Those two infamous questions; someone asking him if they could see his gem or have a closer look at it or someone asking if they could touch it.

There were even some who simply reached out for it.. which, didn't end well for him.

That'd also been from his earlier travels of him trying to get better. Just one look of a hand going towards his stomach would send him into turning pink which only made matters worse between him and the person. 

Thankfully, he was getting pass that and he was better at dealing with people who wanted to be too handsy.

Though it was still just as weird and he imagined that it must be the same for pregnant women. Someone sees a baby belly and they think its okay to go out there and rub the belly.

It most likely wasn't okay to certain women and for him, it was personal and it was something he didn't want.

In a way he also felt a bit embarrassed or sometimes a bit defensive. They would spend more time looking at his gem when he's somewhere without a shirt, like at the beach and at times he would want to tell them, "Helloo, my eyes are up _here."_ though he would always digress. Gems and gemstones were still like something out of a fairytale to a lot of people that weren't residing in Beach City.

"Aw, come on, man. I've never seen a real live Gem before." 

"You are. You're literally looking at one right now." he took another step back. "And looking doesn't involve touching." he took another step back. "Thanks for the candy. I think they'll really like their gift." he went to turn around. "Have a nice day." he power walked out of the store as he heard the cashier pleading or, saying something about just at least seeing his gem, but he didn't turn back around.

Maybe in hindsight he should be a bit more careful in using his Gem powers, especially if he doesn't want to bring a lot of attention to his self.

He did want to try to live life being more in tune with his human half. And, humans. simply. did _not_ have any powers.

So maybe he should work on that-

He froze.

Across the street and walking just a block down from him was that familiar outfit from earlier. 

It had to be her..

The short, blue skirt, the sweater, that.. creepy, oversized blue collar with teeth printed on the front and that plastic bag she was holding. And that wild blonde hair of hers..

She was definitely walking pretty fast up the block _and_ towards the heart of Time Square.

The exact area he was planning on going to next..

_Wow.. small world._

_Really_ small world..

Though maybe in such a touristy site like this, it's a pretty high chance of bumping into the same travellers when they're both only roaming around the city.

It was _still_ a small world..

And he still couldn't deny that very uncomfortable pang in his gut and he wasn't nowhere near her.

What was it with this girl?

Why did he feel this strong negativity, this bad feeling towards her?

Maybe something _was_ up. 

His gut had been right a lot of times before so maybe it was right now.

Maybe that's why his legs were already moving on their own and running across the street to the block she was now walking from as she crossed at another intersection.

He made his way passed a few people and tried to keep his eye on the messy buns on her head as the crowd of people began to grow. He had to slow his pace to prevent form bumping into anyone as he moved forward.

The farther he slow jogged towards the heart of Time Square, the more crowded the area became with tourists. It was making it even harder for him to spot her. Just a small glimpse of a plastic bag or a bun or her yellow sweater and he was barely able to keep a trail on her.

That is, until moments later when he had to come to the same intersection she once was and when he jogged across the street with anyone else, he'd already lost her. 

He looked around. He saw blond hair and plastic bags and yellow sweaters and blue clothing on several other people.

He jogged up the second block some more and looked around and he hoped that he didn't look suspicious.

He didn't see her.

In that quick moment, he'd already lost her to the Time Square crowd..

Terrific..

He slowed his jog down to a power walk.

And now what?

Continue trying to find her?

He still wasn't one hundred percent sure if she was even up to something.

It was just.. his gut feeling he had to go off of which hadn't let him down before.

He inwardly sighed.

Maybe he should keep his eyes peeled for her.

Or maybe he should think that it's his mind playing another one of those traumatic tricks on him and he was about to take the situation and throw it out of proportion.

He looked around despite wanting to take his mind off of her and continue having a good time.

Hopefully.. maybe _this_ time his gut feeling was wrong and nothing was going on with the girl.

Maybe..

And yet.. that bad, stomach twisting feeling was still there.

  
  


  
  


  
  


Steven was coming out of a vegan restaurant.

After seeing the.. mysterious teen and not being able to find her, he'd ventured up Time Square where he tried to get his mind off of her. And, with his time passing the Good Morning America window and walking around the area of where they hold the New Years Eve party and standing in front of _the_ New Years Eve ball drop tower and taking a few pictures, eventually his _anxiety_ levels, so to speak, had dropped slightly. She had been in his mind faintly, yes, but he didn't let or, _tried_ to not let it get to him. 

Then, he'd walked back down from the area and all the way down towards the Nintendo store. He'd grabbed a quick bite to eat for lunch and was planning to make his walk down to the store to see if he could find something for Amethyst. According to her she'd played and replayed and _replayed_ the several games he'd given her before he left and he thought it would be nice to give her another game or two. Something much harder for her. Something that would definitely test her videogame skills that she thinks she has.

A smirk came to his face.

He'll ask the salesclerk for the hardest game possible for that particular game system.

He stopped at a crosswalk as cars drove pass him and the other pedestrians waiting for the light to change.

"Stop! Thief!" 

People were turning their heads to see what the commotion was about. 

Horns blared loudly in the street as the man continued to yell out at the robber. 

A figure in a ski mask was running across the street on the side of them and barely dodging cars as he ran into their lanes.

The sound of tires screeching and horns bleeping filled the area as cars in front of them and adjacent made stop and goes in the street as confusion bled into the scene.

Some of the pedestrians used that time to jog across the street to get to their destination. Cars honked and stopped abruptly or kept going. 

Steven and two other older pedestrians waited at the crosswalk, though Steven stayed behind to follow the thief as he made it to the other side of the street. 

The hero, that part in his kind that wanted to help immediately screamed out that he could catch him.

And he could. Easily.

A few seconds of superspeed and bubbling him and that would be it. 

But.. he also learned along the way that that's what policemen were for and that he shouldn't be intervening.

But it would so easy.. and quick.

And it would make the policemen's day run a bit smoother knowing that he caught the thief.

And whatever was stolen would be rightfully handed back to the owner.

Traffic began to run smoothly once more and the light turned red on their end.

The cars stopped with one running a red light and he walked with the other two older pedestrians along with several more that'd walked up to the crosswalk.

His mind couldn't help but think about that thief being long gone and getting away with stolen property..

He hadn't even heard any police sirens.

Steven made it to the other side of the street and picked up his pace.

Okay.. maybe just this _one_ time he'll intervene.

Besides, he was a Gem after all. 

What was the worse that could happen?

  
  


  
  


He took another step as his pink radiated from his cheeks and throughout his body. 

With another step, he pushed off into a run-


	7. Target Spotted

She was watching.. 

.. the _both_ of them..

On a rooftop of an undisclosed high rise building, she was watching them. 

She had been in the right place at the exact right time to see a thief running out of a jewelry store.

It was petty thievery. Nothing too extravagant like something the League of Villains have done, but with this to nothing else happening in the city, she may had to lower her expectations and grab the people she can get and take them back to their base to train them.

Then she'd saw the link variety jacket and the curly black hair..

While everyone else was running across the street and missing their own business or waiting at the crosswalk, he was busy looking at the thief as he ran by.

And just the look on his face..

She saw that look before.

It was a look of a hero.

He had to be one. His stance, the way he was scouting the area, that look of inner monologue of his tensed face..

Was he training?

Could he not intervene?

Then.. she saw him.

Just a few steps after he stepped to the other side of the curb. 

She saw him. 

His skin turned a bright pink and she hadn't blinked and he was gone.

_So he has super speed.._

_That or he can teleport._

That was something to keep in mind.

When she looked to her other side she was still keeping watch on the thief who hadn't went too far into his escape. 

He'd ran blocks away from the jewelry store and was now heading just diagonal of her building. 

She will follow him..

  
  


  
  


  
  


It took Steven just two minutes to find the thief in his pink state.

He'd found him running up an alley. 

What could've been hours finding him had been chopped down to just a couple of minutes. 

Now, he would just have to stop the guy and wait for the authorities.

He left that state, the pink leaving his skin as everything began to move at a normal pace around him.

He was just a few feet behind the guy. "Hey!" he shouted. "You need to stop!" 

The man looked back and a jostled, shocked look came to his face. "Where did you-!" he went to dig in his pocket. 

Steven instantly raised his arm up in front of him. 

If walking in shady neighborhood's during his travels had taught him anything..

Steven summoned his shield.

The thief took out his gun and began firing off. 

Each bullet pelted against his shield, leaving not even a scratch on its pink surface.

The surprised look on the man's face widened more into fear. 

He turned around and tried to pick up his pace.

"You need to give back the jewelry! You know stealing is wrong!" Steven closed the distance between them and tackled him to the ground. The gun slid across the concrete. 

Without a single thought if he could bubble someone this big, he focused on the power in his gem and touched the thief's back with both hands. 

A large, pink bubble formed around him and pushed Steven back and to the ground.

"I.. I can actually bubble something as big as-"

  
  


_That's all it took?_

_That was it?_

_..really?_

Here she was thinking that there would be a fight. That the thief would use his quirk on him but he just.. let some teenager overpower him and from a little tackle and a bubble no less.

She may had thought about lowering the expectations just a bit and training him, but a weakling like that? She would pass on him.

The teen's eyes went from the man trying to punch and scratch his way out of the bubble to the boy now on his phone. He was saying something. He scratched at the back of his hair and looked up and around as if looking for something. He walked over to the bubble and stopped. He walked over to the gun and cautiously picking it up and went back to the bubble and begam rolling it down the alley. 

There was another target now.

A hero..

And someone with more than one quirk.

_He can make bullet resistant shields, he can make pink, durable bubbles to trap people in and he has super speed or he can teleport._

Powers that she could definitely use for herself..

Those quirks could be perfect in helping bring down the heroes.

All she would need is his blood..

..And.. several or more cups of it..

She grabbed the handles of her bag and stood up from another roof of another undisclosed high rise.

_I'll lure him away just like how I did Ochako_

She smirked.

_Or I'll come up with something even better._

And she would make her move immediately..

The teen turned around and began walking away from the edge of the roof.

  
  


_I'll strike once he's by himself._


	8. Following through

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long chapter for y'all :3
> 
> The next one'll be a pretty short one.

Steven was waving to the police car as it drove away.

Gingerly he put his hand back down with a proud, happy smile on his face. He turned up the sidewalk and passed a group of people murmuring amongst themselves, no doubt in surprise at seeing an actual Gem. 

So much for being more in tune with his human side and not drawing attention to himself as a Gem.

He walked through the crowd, not seeing a scouting figure jump from one roof to the next.

Several bystander thanked him and waved to him, with some wanting to shake his hand or hug or take a picture with him 

Thankfully enough, nobody asked him the infamous question if they could see his gem or worse.. _touch_ it..

After his ten, fifteen minutes of fame that he _didn't_ quite want as he made his way up the sidewalk, he could make out one of the blocks he needed to get on in order to get to the Nintendo store.

Steven waved to his last fan and kept his walk up the street.

The police had been grateful that he caught the robber. They'd appreciated it, despite of also telling him how dangerous the situation could've been when thinking about someone putting themselves in harm's way, Gem or not.

This a boy.. who had faced off against powerful, Intergalactic aliens and saving the world. Some guy with a gun wasn't anything that could compare to that, though he still nodded his head and agreed. And, he _didn't_ bother telling them about his deadly adventures. 

What felt like ten, maybe fifteen minutes later, Steven was coming up to the building with its, many glass windows. Blue lights lined the ceiling of the first and second floor.

He walked up to the doors.

  
  


  
  


She was standing across the street. 

She'd just gotten there after waiting for him at two different spots by the building.

Now she was right at the corner and staring at the building and was waiting.. 

Several people walked pass her to cross the street.

She was waiting for him..

After his talk with the police, she'd watched all of those happy-go-lucky citizens come towards him, showering him with praises and hugs and thanks.

He was just like those Pro Heroes the ones Stain was talking about.

Fame and money. 

Not like real, gritty heroes.

Even if he did seem a bit.. _off_ receiving the kind words and gestures, it wasn't like he'd stopped them entirely.

The teen kept her eyes on the store.

There were so many ways she could subdue him..

She could use the last bit of the policeman's blood and turn into him. She can act like she works with the officers from before and lure him away where she can attack.

Or she could use her first victim's blood and use her ice quirk to take him down just by pinning his feet into place..

Or.. she could turn into Ochako and use her anti gravity quirk and-

She saw her target leave out of the store with a small bag in his hand and a smile on his face.

He began his walk up the street. 

A smirk came to her face.

Time to follow him..

  
  


  
  


  
  


It didn't take Steven long to find some games with the help of the clerk.

He thought it would've taken over an hour, maybe even two as he looked at both old and new games, but with the salesclerk narrowing games down and asking him questions on what Amethyst might like, the time had been shortened to just slightly under an hour.

The streets were even busier than before with the evening making way for the night.

The tall buildings were blocking the sun, though with the rays shone off of their glass windows making this beautiful purple, yellow and red colors on the high rises. The bright, shining billboards popped more on the sleek, gray, black buildings under the dark, blue sky.

The city was beginning to have another feel to it. That mysterious, refreshing nightlife of the city was approaching. 

More crowds of people walked to and from stores and restaurants as they started their trip in the city at the approaching night.

Steven was walking up to a corner. He was planning on calling it a night. It was perhaps a bit too early, but he planned to get more sleep so he could have a chance of waking up early unlike today.

He'd saw what he'd really wanted to see today and he'd planned to leave bright and early tomorrow and taking the train a bit farther out of NYC or maybe along the outskirts of it.

He would put on his alarm, have a quick breakfast and take the subway down to the New York Penn Station and go from there.

Steven stopped at a street corner and turned around and that rollercoaster reaching its peak feeling hit his gut for the third time that day.

It was her.

The girl from the elevator.. and from hours earlier..

She was across the street and walking up.

And there was that feeling of dread and.. just bad vibes again.

Was she looking at him?

He thought she did or maybe it was his eyes playing tricks on him. She was looking ahead of her and steadily walking up the street.

Should he follow her..

He didn't want to seem like a stalker..

And he still didn't have any real reasons to follow her apart from his bad gut feeling towards her, which, could actually get someone in trouble if that said gut feeling was incorrect.. 

He couldn't truly rely on it and follow her.. despite of his gut not failing him all of those other times..

Steven stood there as the pedestrians walked across the street.

Did she look at him? 

She was walking pass him now and across the street to the next block.

He shouldn't do this..

But apart of him said that he should..

But.. he shouldn't get involved because of his own personal feelings..

So why was his legs now walking across the street?

Because he was planning on crossing it anyway.

Yes.

But.. his eyes were focused on the girl as she walked up the street..

He should go back to the hotel.

He shouldn't follow her..

He should just ignore this uncomfortable feeling, go to the hotel and go to sleep and start a new and inviting day tomorrow. 

That's what he should do.

Exceot his body had turned to go up the street where she was walking versus keeping down the street to head towards the subway station.

He really shouldn't do this..

But.. apart of him said that he should..

  
  


  
  


  
  


She'd saw him looking right at her. 

While she was walking up she saw him turn around for the corner and freeze as soon as he saw her.

Even when the crowd began to cross the street he hadn't moved. 

She'd decided to continue her walk up the street.

At this rate, with her now in front of him, she would have a chance of losing him.

And she couldn't have that..

She turned her head slightly to the side and looked up, as if looking at the buildings. And right as she brought her head back down she took one quick peak out of the corner of her eye to see pink before looking forward.

It could be someone else wearing pink, but she had a feeling it was him. 

Was he following her?

She can recall her seeing him run out of the elevator and out of the station and look around.

Maybe he was onto her somehow already..

A wide, mischievous smile slowly come to her face.

He's coming right to her.

She hardly have to do anything at all now.

If he was taking his time to follow her, then he'll be falling right into her trap.

Too easy..

The teen slowed her walk for him to catch up.

She'd slowed down and made sure to stop in front of an alley..

.. because once he gets close by...

.. she'll just..

  
  


  
  


  
  


Steven was walking behind her, still feeling guilty but at the same time feeling antsy to reach her.

What was he going to do? What was he going to say? 

I'm getting a bad vibe from you? Why do you creep me out so much?

That wouldn't be right.. 

He needed to think of something quick because he was getting closer and closer to her now.

Almost.. as if she'd stopped?

That rollercoaster feeling was bubbling in his gut even more and yet his legs were still walking towards her.

He was getting so close to her.

Just a few feet from her..-

The teen pivoted to the side and dashed down an alley.

It took him a full second to process what'd happened before his legs pushed off in a run. That panic.. that fight or flight feeling had hit him and he was determined to follow her. 

The fact that she was running gave his body another reason to follow her.

He ran passed the confused, startled crowd and cut down the alley and summoned his shield. 

Nobody was there.

He slowed his pace down and looked around. 

Only one lone opened dumpster sat near the end of the alley.

He looked up.

The two buildings on either side of him loomed tall overhead. 

There was no way she could've went up. 

For a Gem, it would be easy, but he wasn't dealing with one. 

There was only one area she could be.

He looked back down.

She either jumped inside of the dumpster.. or she's crouching down beside it..

He slowed his pace more as he approached it. He kept a cautious eye on the dumpster as he kept his shield close to him. 

  
  


  
  


  
  


She was staring right at him.

On the roof of one of the buildings, she was preparing for her strike. 

She fixed the black mask over her nose.

Now she was properly prepared.

Three needle canisters attached to both sides of her mask, her belt holding her green utility boxes and two more on her legs containing her knives. 

One of them that she had in her hand.

She crept slowly towards the edge of the roof and leaned forward. Both feet just on the side of the roof with one hand grabbing hold, ready to push off. 

Her other hand holding the knife in a strike. 

She watched him stop just several feet away from the dumpster.

Wait for it..

..and..

  
  


  
  


  
  


Steven was standing in front of the dumpster.

He couldn't deny the goosebumps up and down his arms and the chills down his spine.

She wasn't on the side of the dumpster.. and she hadn't jumped out.

But he knew she was waiting for the right moment to catch him off guard and jump out at him.

He had to be ready for that moment..

.. or.. should he say something..

Or, maybe that would give him away..?

He took a cautious step back.

Maybe he should-

A figure had came into his line of sight and before he could move, he saw a glimpse of yellow and blue before a body of weight crashed into him. He slid across the ground as he felt something sharp cut across his cheek. He let out a grunt of pain. 

He opened his eyes to see those unnerving yellow irises looking right at him. With a startled gasped, he pushed her off with his shield and pushed back up to his feet as she pushed her own self up from the ground. 

He ignored the stinging cut on his cheek as he summoned another shield. He took another step back as he kept both in front of him.

He was right.

His gut feeling was right and now he was finally face to face with..

He looked at the black mask with metallic looking pieces that covered half of her face. Six.. needle, canister objects attached to the mask and a belt strapped around her waist carrying these small green boxes.. And the same green boxes strapped to her thighs.. and a bloody blade in her hand.

.. with.. whoever this girl was..

He looked back up at her. His eyes narrowed on to the girl's face and to him, even with her mask, it looked as if she was smiling, the way her cheekbones rose and the way her eyes squinted slightly as they were lit up with glee.

He could say a thousand things to her right at that moment. Who she was? What was with the creepy getup? What was she doing here? Where.. the heck was she if she wasn't in that dumpster-?

"Yooou were following me~" she cooed. Or that's how it sounded to him. Her voice was muffled, but he still heard this singsong in her voice.

"Who are you?"

The girl tilted her head at him. "Me?" and he thought he heard a slight chuckle. She took her free hand and placed an index finger between her and the mask. She pulled it down and he could see more of how red her cheeks were. And the.. smile she had.

Those fangs..

He kept his cautious stance.

"I should be asking you the same thing." she grinned and he couldn't look away at that creepy, fanged smile of hers..

"Why can't you just tell me who you are?" he tried biting back the sternness in his voice.

"I don't have to _tell_ you," she said casually.

He saw her reach up and he took another step back. 

She grabbed at one of the canisters and as she snapped it off of her mask he noticed that one below it had been filled with red liquid.

What that liquid was, he didn't know.. but he hoped that it wasn't blo-

She held the canister in her hand and leaned forward. "I'll just _show_ you." she shot towards him.

In just a split second before he could move out of the way, she slammed into his shield. He stumbled back as she tackled his arm. He barely kept his balance. 

She was coming towards him with the needle pointing directly at his face. He threw his shield up at nobody and he made out just the side of her out the corner of his eye as she swung the knife towards his shoulder. He held up the other shield to block a hand that wasn't there before seeing her back in front of him. He threw both shields in front of him and caught a glimpse of her right at his side before getting tackled in the back and slamming down to the ground. 

The girl was fast.

 _Too_ fast it was almost inhuman-like.

And the strength she had.

He saw the shadow of her on the ground and he pushed off of the gravel as her feet landed hard right at the spot he'd been.

The two stood there looking admiringly and glaring at one another respectively.

If she was a Gem, he wouldn't be going so easy on her. He could throw his shield out just one good time and poof her.

But here..

He watched as she took just one small step forward. Both the bloody knife and the needle canister in her hand. And.. that creepy fanged smile over her red blushed face.

He couldn't use his shield against her, that would hurt her.. and hand to hand combat and his fists on a girl was completely out of the question and far from his mind.

What could he do..

Unless.. bubble her like the last guy?

That could work.

She may be fast, but he was faster if he takes the pink approach.

He can be quick and bubble her.

Then he could call the police to come and get her-

She shot towards him and both caught of guard and barley having enough time to move, he threw out his shield in front of him and the other out to the side she was aiming for, before in a split second, seeing her grab hold at the edge of his shield at his side and pushing her body of the ground in a front flip and feeling the weight of her legs slam down into the back of his head. Right as he turned around he felt arms and legs wrap around him. Her arms around his shoulders and her legs wrapped tightly around his waist. He felt the needle stick his neck. 

"Suck, suck, suck.... suck, suck, suck.." she whispered.

What was she doing?!

Was she putting something inside of him?!

Was she taking something _out_ of him?!

He could feel the tint of pink dot faintly at his cheeks.

He had to get her off of him and protect his self first and foremost.

The shields vanished from his hands and he reached up, grabbing one arm that'd stuck him with the needle and the other grabbing some part of her sweater. He pulled forward, yanking her roughly off his back and throwing her to the ground. 

He immediately summoned his bubble as she stayed on the ground. 

He panted.

What did she do?

Did she take something out of him? Or _put_ something into h-

He saw the canister now filled with red liquid..

A chill of fear and disgust shot down his spine and gripped at his stomach.

She took some of his blood..

Why.. why did she do that?!

He raised a shaky hand to his neck.

The girl was finally pushing up slowly to her knees, though she didn't look hurt or unfazed at all and sort of him figured she was simply in the ground for that Kong to be dramatic. 

She still had that creepy fanged grin on her bushing face.

"Wow.. look at you.." she cooed.

She looked admiringly at the "blush" across his cheeks and the tantalizing bloody cut across his cheek. She slowly pushed up to her feet. "You're so strong." she let out a small breathy chuckle. She walked painstakingly slow towards the bubble. 

"What did you do! Why did you take my blood!" he tried keeping the pink under wraps. 

He tried taking calm breaths though they came out shaky then he'd intended..

"Hm?" she smirked. She placed her forehead on the bubble as she brought her hands up and placed them on its surface. The quarter full canister and the bloody knife still in her hands. "All I did was take a bit of your blood." the blush was even more evident under her half lidded eyes. "I just love blood~" 

"Why did you take it!"

Was it because he was a Gem? Was she some weird, crazy scientist that wanted to use his hybrid blood for something?!

Or was she just some weird, crazy teenager that just goes around stabbing people with needles?!-

"Haa~" she breathed out lightly. "Look at you. You're bleeding." 

He could feel another line of blood steadily drip down his face. "You didn't answer my question!"

"I told you, silly." she grinned. "This is what I love." she placed her nose against the bubble. "Now, if you get out of your little forcefield of yours, I can take care of that little cut for you." her eyes watched the line of blood drip farther down to his chin. 

What was with this girl?! 

Did she.. simply _like_ blood?! Was he going up against some scientist OR some crazy teenager?!

What was she planning on doing with his blood exactly?! Experiment on it?!.. Drink it?! .. What?!

"What are you doing with my blood!"

"It's just for my personal use." she said casually with a wink

What.. was that supposed to mean?!

"But I think it'll be easier if you just get out.. of this bubble." her voice sounded a bit strained at the end. Just at that _last_ end.. 

"I'm _not_ getting out of my bubble."

Why the creepy smirk?.. What's with the creepy, fanged smirk?! What was with those fangs?! 

"Ohh, come on, hero? If you stay cooped up in that bubble, how else are you going to try and take me down?"

'Hero'?

And what was this? Did she _want_ me to try and take her down? 

Was this some kind of sick, fun game to her?!

Who.. is she?!

"No? You're still going to stay in your little bubble?" she leaned the side of her face on the bubble. "That's kind of sad really.." she whispered. She brought the point of the needle and dragged it across the bubble until her hand was at her face. "And here I was hoping we would have part two of this." she murmured. "We could've had a bit more bloodshed." 

"Who. ARE you!" pink spread across his face and engulfed his whole body. "Why. do you need. my blood!" 

Moments passed and she kept the side of her face on the bubble, before slowly shifting her face to place her nose back on the bubble. "You got quite an anger." her teeth clenched together in a toothy smile. "That's pretty hot." 

He balled his fists as his face twisted up in vexation. "You're not.. ANSWERING ANY OF MY QUESTIONS!" 

The toothy smile dropped to shocked confusion as she raised her eyebrow at him, before that signature, creepy smirk of hers was back on her face. She tilted her head up slightly and her nose rubbed across the surface of the bubble. "I'm just your little darling wanting to get her much needed fill on her vital fluids." she dangled the canister in front of him. 

He couldn't read her..

And there was no getting through to her..

That only poured more fire into the already burning chest in his body. 

'Darling'..

'her much needed fill' on his own blood..

All of that only kicked in his slowly churning rage even more.

"Weeell, since we've reached an impasse," she leaned off of the bubble. "I guess we'll just end this round here then." she clipped the canister back into its clip and placed the black mask over her face-

"We're not done!" he pointed a finger at her. "If you think.. that you'll get away wi-"

"Yeees, that sounds like a very. likely. story." she grinned. "Thanks cutie, but I got what I need for right now."

What did she mean by th-?

He saw her bring her hand towards the bubble. 

And he noticed.. small, very faint pinkish pads just on her fingertips. 

"Can't have you following me now." she murmured. She tapped her hand on the bubble and ran passed him as the bubble began to float up into the air. "Hey!! Hey!! Wait!!" he yelled.

In his panic of floating farther up into the air, he'd forgotten for four very long seconds that he could _un_ summon his bubble and float back down.

The bubble vanished and he dove fast towards the gravel.

  
  


  
  


  
  


She'd crossed the street and was hiding in another alley that'd been conveniently placed between two talk buildings.

She was taking off of her gear as she watched him diving towards the ground before gently floating to his land. He pushed off of his feet and disappeared.

He was either using his super speed or teleportation to find her. 

Okay..

Two can play at this game..

She took off the last gadget on her. The green utility box on her leg as her skin began to shift into her first victim. 

She started taking off her clothes, revealing her victim's clothes steadily forming underneath. 

She put the gadgets and clothes in her bag but kept the knife in her hand. 

His blood..

She took the blade of it to her lips and dragged her tongue across the surface- 

Her eyes dilated.

Her breath hitched and the faint hair on her skin pricked across her body.

She swallowed.

And opened her mouth as she let out a light sighing gasp.

Her eyes darted down to the blade. She turned it over and ran her tongue across it to clean it of his blood.

This was something she'd never tasted. 

Something so exquisite, something so enticing, so mouthwatering so.. teasing.. 

And something she needed more of.

This.. delicious, newly discovered delicacy of hers..

She licked the edge of the knife before putting it back in the bag.

This hero was something truly extraordinary.

He kept coming with more and more surprises.. 

And..she _loved_ it.. 

His multiple and powerful quirks..

His shield, his bubble, his superspeed or teleportation.

And now.. it appears that he can float. That he can manipulate how fast and how slow he goes as well.

And he has his hot headed moments too..

And.. his blood.

Something better than what she'd ever had in her life..

The teen got up.

She still had her plan that she needed to undergo with.

And that is finding her recruits.

 _But_ , it's _also_ to fill up enough of his blood so she can use it again the heroes..

And.. something for her herself, why not? Then, she can be close to him. She can feel that connection and that warmth and that sensation of being together and becoming one.

Becoming.. _him.._

She'd already fallen for him.

She wanted to see him again and get closer and cut x's and o's across his back as she licked his wounds and.. she wanted him. Bad.

And she was going to find him one way or another and get what she intensely desired.

She fixed the purple scarf around her neck and began to make her walk out of the alley.

She couldn't wait until she found him again.

Her sweet hero.

The teen licked her lips of his blood.

_This is going to be fun.._


	9. Target Acquired

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thought this would be a short chapter like I told y'all in the previous chapter, BUT, uh.. yeah, it didn't turn out that way xP

Steven was staring up at the ceiling. One arm under his head and the other draped across his bare, pink stomach.

Those several, particular events replayed in his mind for the hundredth time..

The two bumping into each other on the elevator, him successfully following her the third time he tried, the two getting into a short fight and her leaving him..

And him not being able to find her.

And that only made the situation and his apprehension worse. 

_He_ couldn't find her.

Even with his speed and going everywhere in the city, in and out of buildings for three, four hours, he couldn't find her.

How was that possible?

Her getting into a car was a suggestion, but the rate he was going as he skimmed through every spow moving car, truck and bus and even subway, he would've seen her. 

But he didn't.

He didn't see her _anywhere._

Almost as if.. she just disappeared.

That didn't sit well with him..

And even after hours and him eventually giving up, both from physical and mental exhaustion, he was still thinking about it deeply. 

How did she get away from him so easily?

It agitated him. 

It was setting off this anxiety.. this prideful temper in him and this concern and trepidation..

Who was she?

Why did she want his blood?

His face contorted in an uneasy grimace.

There was still a possibility that she was some kind of scientist wanting his blood to do some kind of Gem related experiments..

Or..

Maybe she was just some crazy teen?

Now that he thought about she also didn't seem fazed at his powers.. 

..Unless she already knew about him? Maybe from t.v? Or.. from him catching the robber?

And she seemed more interested in his blood than him and his powers..

But she could still be using his blood for anything..

_"What are you doing with my blood!"_

_"It's just for my personal use." she said casually with a wink._

Her 'personal use'.. 

What did she even _mean_ by that?

_"I'm just your little darling wanting to get her much needed fill on her vital fluids." she dangled the canister in front of him._

What was she talking about?..

It could literally be hundreds, thousands of things she meant by that..

Then.. it was what played in his mind. Something she'd said right after she leaned off of his bubble..

_"I guess we'll just end this round here then."_

End _this_ 'round'..

Did she mean that she was coming back?

.. _Was_ she coming back?

Or was she just trying to get into his head and make him paranoid?

He didn't know. 

He had absolutely _no_ idea who she was or her motives and he had been worrying about it all night from the moment he tried to find her up to now. 

He raked a pink hand through his more than poofier hair. 

And _this_ too..

Turning pink..

Now he had to start his good streak all over.

Six weeks and five days.. all ruined now..

And now he had to start from day one..

He exhaled loudly.

 _After_ he stops glowing.. which seemed like it wasn't going to end any time soon..

He dropped his hand above his head. 

Though despite of him glowing pink, he at least knew he was getting better. 

He just.. _still_ needed improvement. 

But, he was still better than before. 

It could've been much, _much_ worse for not just her, but for the whole area, maybe even the whole city of New York. But, for the most part, he kept his dangerous outbursts and most of his powers under wraps-

That fanged smile and those yellow, cat-like eyes..

His mind kept going to her. 

But who _was_ she? 

Who the heck _was_ she? 

And what did she want with his blood?!

Apart of his mind tried to take an approach to lesson his anxiety. His concern, his fear, his apprehension. 

She could be some crazy teenager and not a scientist.

She could be some crazy teenager and not a scientist.

She _could_ be some crazy teenager and _not_ a crazy scientist..

Or.. a magician?

His mind played the memory of her tapping her hand just once on the bubble and how he began to float.

That was.. magician magic right?

He remembered him and Connie talking about magicians. Or, first the circus. Her telling him about a field trip she'd went on where the class went to a circus and how there were magicians there. The conversation soon led to her explaining what magicians were. 

Apart from a few things they do.. they're famous for making objects float..

.. or disappear..

Which she seemed to had done since he could. _not_ find her.

Though then again Connie had claimed that it's fake and all smoke and mirrors..

He didn't necessarily think so.

Maybe they were real. 

So.. 

If she could make him float..

Then that could also be an option.

She could be some weird, creepy, magician girl that has some weird, creepy-.. _extremely_ weird, creepy obsession with blood.

He kept his eyes on the ceiling as more and more thoughts and ideas and suggestions flood his mind..

Should he call the police?

What could he tell them?

That some teenage girl wielding needles in a mask and an oversized collar attacked him with a knife and took some of his blood and made him float up into the air?

And that he couldn't find her despite of using his diamond powers?

Then what could the police without Gem powers do?

Or.. maybe that's a mean and belittling thought to have..

Maybe they could do something that he hadn't thought of to find the girl..

His mind continued to go from idea to idea in a whirlwind.

Maybe Connie?

Maybe his dad?

Or.. talk to his therapist about this?

The Gems?

No..

He shouldn't tell any of them..

They would worry too much. 

Besides, it wasn't like it was some Gem that was after him or that something dire or dangerous was happening.

....Hopefully?

He wasn't sure..

Or maybe he just shouldn't tell them _yet._

But what if something happens and it'll already be too late for him?

He didn't know how to feel about this.

He had very little information about the girl and all he could do was lay in his hotel and be a nervous wreck as his mind raced to no close end in sight.

Some creepy scientist..?

Some creepy teenager liking blood..?

Some, mugger from the street with that knife she had and.. that mask she wore..?

He closed his eyes and breathed in slowly and deeply.. and exhaled even slower.

He opened his eyes at the ceiling.

He tried to relax himself.

He tried to not keep his mind on it and to not hink too much about what happened, but how could he not?

While it lasted, he _did_ have a good time in New York City and he was able to buy a few things for his family.

..And going up against the girl..

He was able to capture a robber.

..And come face to face with the girl..

Seeing a random fan right as he reached his hotel who wanted a picture with him and not wanting to seem mean and reluctantly taking a picture with her..

..And getting to a little fight against the girl..

Continuing his walk into the hotel and absentmindedly getting a small snack to bring to his room. Not wanting to head to his hotel room at the time and wanting to stay in a bright and opened area for a bit longer.

And.. actually talking to the girl and things not going too well between them..

He'd taken a warm shower that didn't calm his mind, healed the cut on his that he'd forgotten about during his hours of trying to find her and he'd laid in bed and stayed there, only to stare up at the ceiling and let his mind run wild with so many emotions and thoughts.

And looking at his surroundings and feeling like he was being watched in the hotel, either from his previous Gem training from years ago and his situational awareness _or_ from his traumatic mind coming to the fore and playing tracks on him, he didn't know. 

That time, he couldn't tell the difference at that point.

That.. _girl.._

It could've been a perfect day if that hadn't happened. If he hadn't bumped into her earlier or if he hadn't followed her into the alley..

He sighed out loudly as he rubbed at his still pink face.

He dropped his hand back down.

This wasn't going to leave his mind any time soon..

  
  


Steven had laid in bed for an unspecified amount of time as he looked off into the distance..

..still reliving the events in his mind..

  
  


  
  


  
  


It'd been way too easy.

 _Way_ tooo easy, it was if he _wanted_ her to find him.. 

She'd transformed into him just once.

After keeping a low profile as her first victim, she'd went to yet another undisclosed roof of a high rise. 

There, she went to her next step. 

Going from her first victim.. to him..

She had to keep the giddiness from getting to her too much.

She was him.

She was her sweet hero~ 

And she was so happy, so enamored to be him..

The teen had went with one particular quirk she was curious about.

When he goes pink.. is it superspeed? Or does he teleport?

There was one way to find out.

It'd taken a few tries, but soon she was looking down at bright pink hands.

Now, it was time to test it out.

Still on the roof, she focused on speed, agility, the pull of rushing to her goal..

She pushed off into a run across the gravel of the roof. Above her, she could see a flock of pigeons flying in slow motion.

..Superspeed it was..

She raised an arm out, imagining a weapon she will use as defense against the heroes. Taking them down with the edge of the bullet proof surface-

A pink shield formed around her arm.

She grinned.

And if anybody were to dare come towards her to stop her..-

A pink bubble formed around her.

She looked at the slow moving, pink world in front of her.

A hot headed, cute boy with multiple quirks and the most delectable blood she'd ever discovered.

A perfect combination and that only made her crave him more. To be with him. To be every essence of him..

The shield and the bubble vanished from her, though she kept the pink glow radiating over his body.

If he was still using his quirk, then she would be able to see him now that they were going at the same speed.

And eventually, she had.

It'd taken over two precious hours, but she'd found him, running out of a subway station. 

There, she'd followed him, but was sure to stay away as not to be found by him.

She'd been patient. Too patient for her.

She'd followed him everywhere, but hadn't made her move. 

She had to strategize and attack him and get more of his blood at the right moment.

He seemed unrelenting.

He only continued to search for her, everywhere in the city.

And she'd only continued to follow..

And towards a hotel that was definitely more of a higher end in the city. 

But when his movements became more sluggish and at a slower pace, she realized they weren't on the same speed.

She stopped and the world around her went at a more average, normal speed.

Eventually he'd finally given up.

She was watching him walk through the revolving doors and she had to think fast..

  
  


  
  


  
  


"I'm SUCH a fan of you!"

"Uh.." 

His whole body was still glowing pink and she'd realized that the cute pink hair of his looked even more fluffier than before.

And that the cut on his face long since dried up and the three blood streaks were still down his cheek. 

And.. what she would've done just to lick the chin up to his cheek clean of it...

"Come ooon, just _one_ picture. Pleaaase? I've never seen a Gem and I wasn't able to catch up to you when you caught that robber!" she bounced on her toes. "That was soo nice of you."

"Uh, w, well.." he scratched at his hair. His dilated eyes kept darting from her to whichever area of the hotel and back to her. "I.. well I'm not that presentable.." his face was every bit uneasy and shamefaced. "I.. don't really want to have the.." he trailed off as he gestured with an opened hand at his face and torso. 

"Awwee~, something you can't control?" she saw another faint tint of pink on his cheeks.

"I'll just say it was the lighting or a photo affect on my phone! Oh, come ooon. This will really mean a lot to me if I had a picture with an actual Gem! AND one who singlehandedly taken down someone without getting a single scratch on their body!" 

She was going to coax him even more but he'd shyly agreed to. Or, _reluctantly_ agreed to.

She held the victim's phone up and stood next to him. Just the brush of his shoulder on hers made her want to turn on him and hug him. Squeeze his torso and never let go and take her teeth and sink them into his skin.

The teen smiled and he did as well, though the smile looked more uncomfortable than jovial or even content.

She turned to him. "Oh! I didn't catch your name."

"Huh? Ah.. just.." he exhaled through his nose but kept the uncomfortable small smile on his face. "It's.. Steven Universe." 

"Wow, nice name."

He shrugged and opened his mouth to say something, but closed it back. He opted for an uneasy side smile.

"Steven Universe." she smiled. "So is that your hero name or your real name?" she said it so casually.

"Uh, I don't have a hero.. name." he raised an eyebrow at her. "It's my real name.- Or, well, Steven Demayo is. But, technically uh." he stopped and to her he looked a bit.. agitated? "But, uh, just.. _Universe_ is my last name too. Y, yeah. Steven Universe.."

"I'm so loving that name. It has a nice ring to it." she turned for the phone. "Say cheese!" she blurted out.

"Uh, chee-"

She took the picture right in mid word. His mouth slightly opened in a slight toothy, stretched smile. 

She turned her face around to him, close enough for her purple scarf to hit his chin. 

Close enough.. just inches from the blood on his cheek. 

"Thaanks," her voice might've came off more in a murmur than she'd intended. "For the picture." she stayed inches from his face.

"Uh.. y, yeah.." he'd leaned back from her.

She remembered practically pulling her own self from him. And she quickly remembered the important plan she had to continue with.

She'd left after a quick, "Bye" and he might've mumbled out something to her, but she was too focused on the revolving doors of the hotel.

  
  


The teen giggled.

This was it.

She'd waited hours as she roamed the streets closest to his hotel. 

And she hoped that she'd waited long enough.

At this time he should be asleep.

If she wasn't, she could still catch him off guard and attack him, but catching him right in his sleep would be easier..

But either way..

.. he would still be hers..

Either way, she would soon have him all to herself.. 

The skin of her body slowly became malleable as it began to form into clothing. Her face; the blonde hair, the golden eyes and fangs slowly changing to black, curly hair, thick eyebrows, tender, passionate eyes and a friendly smile between pinchable cheeks.. 

She made her way towards the revolving door as the last fold of skin formed into his pink varsity jacket. 

She stepped through the glass encasing and stepped into the shiny, bright area of the lobby.

A receptionist was sitting at his desk and typing on the laptop. 

The teen stepped up to the desk as the receptionist stopped what he was doing to look over at him.

"Hey." he smiled. "It's me again. I.. kinda lost my key." he shrugged for good measure. "Is there any way I could get another one?" 

"Name?" 

"Steven Demayo Universe." he smiled.

He looked back to the laptop and began typing on the keyboard. "Steven.." he mumbled. "Universe.." moments later and the tired looking man slid back slightly from his desk and looked down at the three cabinets to his left. He opened the middle one.

The boy was holding back his smile that wanted to stretch into a much more, _mischievous, complacent_ one. 

He couldn't wait.

In just a few more minutes the teen would be face to face with someone so alluring.. so.. tantalizing.. 

The receptionist handed him a small, rectangular card. "Here you go, Sir."

He grabbed the card.

_This is it._

The teen made his way from the receptionist and towards the elevators.

Room 709.

She was so close..

The doors slid open and she stepped inside and her heart jolted as she pressed the button.

The doors closed.

The elevator began its ascend.

Every second seemed to move slower.. and slower..

The elevator couldn't move any faster for her..

So close..

She was going to see him again..

A warm feeling rose up her stomach and her heart fluttered in her chest.

_DING_

The doors opened.

She stepped out.

**←←Rooms 700- 715___ Rooms 716-731→→**

She turned to her left.

Pink flip flops made their way across the tan colored carpet to the room.

So close..

And getting closer..

**Room 709**

Carefully.. and slowly.. she slid the card into its slot as more anticipation filled her chest.

The small thin light lit up green with a quiet chirp.

She pushed open the door and stopped.

She peaked in.

The room was dark, say for the small bit of light from the hall trickling faintly into the room.

She pushed open the door slightly more and slipped through and stepped onto the fuzzy carpeting.

She stepped to the side and closed the door back.

It clicked, a bit too loud for her liking.

She stopped and kept her head towards the corner of the wall. 

Just beyond it.. where he would be..

No sound of movement.

Moments later, within the thumping sound of her heart in her ears, she heard light snoring.

Perfect..

The boy began to lose his height as his legs began to shorten. His black curly hair lightening and forming into messy side buns and uneven bangs..

He crouched down and opened the bag slowly as his clothes soon gave way to bare skin. The formation leaving its trail temporarily on the carpet in clumps of gray matter..

She put her clothes on and began fastening the gadgets to her quietly.

_Time for the final round.._

She would get what she needed and more..

The teen got up and began her walk towards the corner of the wall. The knife and the quarter full needle canister in her hands..

She turned the corner.

Her heart jumped and the heat from her stomach spread to her chest.

There he was.

Sleeping on the bed.

A towel wrapped around him as he laid on his back. One arm under his head and the other resting outreached above him.

She sauntered over towards him, closing the distance between them.

She looked down at his peaceful, sleeping face and immediately noticed..

_The cut is gone.._

She tilted her head as her face contorted, both pleased and skeptical, and also disappointed that there was nothing to look admiringly at.

So.. he can either self regenerate or has healing powers..

Another quirk of his..

How many does he have?

She watched his stomach steadily move up and down as he breathed.

A pink, round cut gemstone moving with it..

She looked at the pink jewel.

Something apart of him..

She leaned her head back up.

If he's anything like Eri, then his quirks are most likely coming from there.

She traced her eyes over the facets of the gem.

_I wonder.. if it could be pulled out.._

_If it can.. could that stone be usable?_

_What if I take it to Shigaraki.._

_Could they use it for the other Nomus?_

He practically _is_ a Nomu.

A living, breathing, High-End Nomu. 

Multiple quirks, regeneration, anger..

The ability to talk and think for his self..

He just seemed to have it all~

Too bad he's a hero..

He would've been a powerful asset in the League..

She leaned over slowly and held out her hand towards the pink surface. Three fingers holding tightly onto the handle of the knife as she kept her thumb and index finger out.

Carefully, she placed the tips of them on the ridge of the surprisingly warm stone.

She gripped it and pulled slowly-

A loud, crackling snore echoed throughout the room, though she was completely unfazed. Her index finger and thumb still in motion of pulling the gem.

Before a thought came to her mind..

What if this doesn't work? What if the jewel doesn't work and he ends up losing his power as well?

Then.. his blood would then be invaluable..

And she couldn't have that~

She let go of the stone.

Besides.. 

It'll be much more fun poking and prodding him with knives and seeing his blood.

She gripped the handle with all four fingers. She traced her thumb on the edge of the blade before leaning the knife right by the edge of his jewel.

She dragged the tip of the blade, trailing it around the jewel once.

She pressed the sharp tip down to his stomach for a full second... and lifted the tip of the blade off his skin, leaving a small pink, bruised dot just by the bruised, round outline around his gem.

Now.. 

.. that's better..

Her eyes went from his lightly bruised stomach to his face.

He looked so handsome, so at peace with his rosy cheeks..

He would look so much better with a cut or two..

.. or three.. or four..

She leaned forward and held the knife towards his cheek and the needle canister to his arm.

That potential rush she will soon feel..

The anticipation was at the brim of her being and spilling out.

Her tongue could still taste his blood.

She leaned her face close to his.. 

She could feel her face heat up as the blush came over her cheeks.

She let out a light pant towards his nose.

She grinned as her narrowed eyes never left his closed ones.

_Time for us to be close.._

She could see small twitches of his face every now and again. The snoring having stopped..

_We're going to be so close.._

She leaned her lips towards his ear.

"Closer than you can ever imagine.." she whispered giddily.

  
  


  
  


  
  


Steven shot up from his bed in a cold sweat. 

He sat there on the bed, panting. 

The room was pitch black. 

And the room was dead quiet. Completely silent. 

_Eerily_ silent.

What happened just now?

He simply.. fell asleep and then.. 

He wiped the cold sweat from his clammy forehead. 

He thought he heard someone or.. dreamt of someone being in the room with him.. maybe? 

And.. something involving his gem?...Maybe?

It felt too real.. 

And now..

He looked around the dark room, barely being able to see anything but the outlines and shapes of the furniture of the room. 

Now it felt like someone was watching him..

He sat there for a few long moments, before looking over at the dull clock he'd turned the neon green light off from. 

3:57a.m.

Soo early..

He sat in bed. The paranoia still holding him by the shoulders and keeping him down on the mattress..

It's just his kind playing tricks on him. 

That'd happened before, plenty of times.

And, this was just that time.

That's what he was telling his self..

The trauma was playing with the wires in his thoughts again.

Everything was fine.

This time it truly was.

Why wouldn't it be?

There was nothing else to fear and no one else to fight.

So.. there was.. absolutely no reason to be paranoid.

Even.. _if_ some crazy girl took his blood..

He shouldn't be so apprehensive and so tense like this..

Maybe he should go in the bathroom and splash some water on his face..

Steven sat there, still unmoving and after a long ten minutes of sitting in bed and repeating that in his mind, he finally got up, though reluctantly, and felt this soreness in his stomach, right by his Gem. 

A streak of apprehension shot down his spine.

It felt like a long, circular paper cut or mosquito bites or..

He couldn't place the feeling..

He placed a cautious hand on the area and his stomach jumped slightly in pain.

He curled his fingers away from the sore skin.

Maybe he shouldn't had went for the sore area..

He'll have to hurry up and check out what it is in the bathroom.

He dropped his hand away from his stomach and walked away from the bed.

All he needed to do was splash his face with some water and look at what was on his stomach. Then, maybe go down to the 24 hour café area downstairs by the lobby and make his self some tea.

Maybe that would calm him..

He turned the corner..

And walked to the bathroom door.

And stepped in something that had squished between his toes.

He let out a started yelp mixed in with a sound of disgust.

What did he step in?! Or on?!

He jumped to his other foot and hopped onto the cold, tile floor of the bathroom and quickly pressed the top button of the light switch with a hollow click.

He looked down at the bottom of his foot.

Grayish.. light brownish? .. mud.. or.. clay of some sort?

"What did I.." he looked at the foot of the door.

Outside of the room were small clumps of some gooey.. or.. soft, clay-like material. There was one single pile and when he poked his head out of the room, he noticed small drops of it in a line leading to the pile.

He didn't.. remember stepping into any mud..

Though his mind was somewhere else at that time, he probably hadn't noticed. 

He leaned back into the room and turned around.

He would just have to clean it up..

Then he'll go downstairs and make some calming, herbal tea for himself.

Steven hopped over to the sink.

He splashed a bit of cool water onto his face several times as he breathed in and out slowly and in a steady rhythm before throwing his leg up on the edge of the sink and feeling the sharp paper cut feeling on his skin. 

He sucked in some air and went to touch at his stomach before stopping his self.

He looked down.

There was a thin, pink, bruised line around his gem and beside it, pinkish, reddish dot. 

The dot looked to be.. from a bug bite? Mosquito bite like he thought before?

But the line around his gem..

He heard about bed bugs in hotels.. but higher end ones like the one he was renting now?

That's a possibility, sure..

Still, was this how bedbug bites looked?

What else could it be from if it wasn't a bite from an insect or a bug?

Unless.. during that whole pink state he'd scrapped his stomach on something. A door, a tree, a railing..

Though that wouldn't make a near perfect round circle over his stomach.. And around his _gem_ at that.. 

The apprehension was still clinging to him and he tried to quiet his thoughts of that weird dream he had or of the events that happened yesterday or of, any of those uneasy thoughts in general..

He licked the palm of his hand and placed it at the bottom of his stomach. Seconds later and the bruises went away, showing unblemished, smooth skin.

Maybe he should sleep on the recliner for the rest of the night..

Or maybe opt for sleeping in his car in the hotel garage..

Steven reached over and grabbed the good smelling hotel bar soap and slid his foot under the lukewarm water and scrubbed his foot of the stuff. 

Thankfully it was easy to get off his skin..

He pulled two pieces of tissue from its box and dried his foot off and slid his leg off of the edge of the sink.

He threw the used tissue in a small, circular, fancy looking trashcan and turned for the hallway.

There were some extra towels sitting on the dresser. He could use one of them to clean the carpet with.

He grabbed the door subconsciously, to close it. The mirror revealing the figure with a needle canister and a knife at the ready in either hand. She fixed the black mask over her blushing, grinning face. 

He let go of the door as he realized what he was doing.

He should keep it open.

He'll need the light to see the muddy spots on the carpet.

He stepped over the pile as the figure pivoted around from behind the door and hovered close to his back.. shadowing his every footstep..

  
  


  
  


Steven wound the corner to the bed. The dresser laying right across from it on the other side of the room-

The corner of his eye catching something. A shadow, or a figure, another reflection in the mirror of the dresser. 

Someone behind him-

Right as he opened his mouth and right before he could move, he felt a hand grip his mouth tightly and a sharp blade hit his throat. 

He froze.

The teen stepped up close to his back.

"You scream or if you so much as _attempt_ to use any of your quirks on me.." she whispered. He felt the blade of the knife push in slightly into his throat. He heard a breathy chuckle. "I'll put a fresh, deep cut on this pretty, velvet, little skin of yours." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all folks are enjoying le fic =)
> 
> Stay tuned for _whenever_ I post this next chapter. (Kinda gotta show love to the other fics I hadn't written in awhile so uh.. I have to show them some love too xP)
> 
> So I decided to stop at this cliffhanger because I'm mischievous like that 😂
> 
> Anyway, as I've said, y'all stay tuned and I also want to deeply thank everyone who have subscribed, bookmarked, kudoed and especially commented on the story. 😭✌️ Y'all are absolutely awesome.
> 
> Stay safe out there everyone and have a nice one 😃


	10. Gem Magic vs. Quirk

Steven stood there frozen.

A thousand things were running through his mind like a whirlwind and everything felt muddled all at once as he felt the overwhelming emotion hit the core of his being.

He tried forcing the pink glow down as it slowly spread across his cheeks.

So many things he was imagining;

She somehow broke into his hotel and she was ready to kill him. Take the rest of his blood and send it to a lab to experiment. Or Rob him, take his blood and kill him. Or torture him. Anything-

"Now," she whispered. _"you_ just be a good little hero and.." he felt the blade press down harder on his neck and the pink glow flared across his face. The blade slid hard down his neck to the middle of his collarbone. "This isn't a bluff." she said sharply. Her breath was hot against his back. "I said if you so much as use any of your quirks, I'll cut your throat." The point of the blade broke through the skin. "I see you glowing." 

For a few too long seconds, his body wouldn't respond, no matter how hard he tried. 

"You stop glowing or the blade cuts through your skin." the blade pierced through more of his neck-

His body.. he tried to respond. Say anything. 

The pink spread down his neck and arms and he felt the blade cut in deeper-

"I can't help it!" he blurted out and his voice sounded frantic and panic-stricken. 

The blade stayed on his neck and the pain radiated from the cut. He could feel the warm liquid dripping down his skin and down to his collarbone.

"..What?" her voice was still a whisper.

He resisted a swallow. "I.. I can't help it.." the blade never budged from his neck. "The glow.. I- I, can't help it."

From the corner of his eye he could see her eyes narrowed up at him.

"It's, it's just a glow.. that's it.. I'm not planing anything.." before he said quickly, "I can't help it."

Silence only lingered for several solid seconds before she spoke back up. "So.. a teenager who has yet to control his quirk?" her eyes had narrowed on him more and the prey-like look of her golden eyes and fangs in the night made it that more chilling.

"Sounds reaally unlikely."

"It isn't!" he blurted out. "I.. really can't.." another line of blood trailed down from his cut and he tried to ignore the pain from the opened wound.

"Hmph.. can't control your quirk.." 

She kept saying 'quirk'..

What did she meant by that?

In the mix of his befuddle thoughts he'd aimlessly thought she was referring to his glowing..

He was still assuming that.

"That isn't to say I believe you.." he saw movement from behind him. "You just stay still.. and.. let me do this.." he heard a giggle and felt a hard pinch in his arm as the needle jammed through his skin.

From the corner of his eye he could see his own blood being drawn into the half filled canister.

The rest of his body was engulfed in pink.

She kept her eyes on him, but said nothing about the glow throughout the rest of his body.

She reached for a second canister on the side of her mask and unlatched it. She yanked the needle from his arm and stuck the new one into his skin. 

She clipped the full canister underneath of the first full one and grabbed the canister quickly taking the blood from his body.

Rushing and rapid moving thoughts as quick and rapid as his breathing.

He had to do something. Quick.

He heard another giggle. "Wow, you're being so good." her mouth stretched out in a wicked smile. "I'm even getting more blood than what I got from Camie." 

Who's Camie?!

Was that her blood in the first canister?!

Is she okay?!

What happened to her!?

A third canister was clipped from the other side of her mask. 

And what was _he_ going to do!?

She needed _this_ much blood for a reason-

She yanked the canister from his arm and clipped it back to her mask before jamming the third needle into his arm. 

She was only human.

He had powers.

She didn't.

Even with the knife to his throat.. and the cut underneath of it.. he shouldn't be letting this get to him like this.

She just thinks he's glowing. 

With his super speed he can easily break away from her. 

In the mix of frantic thoughts he didn't think of that.

He needs to hurry up and get away from her.

Before she gets any more of his blood.

  
  


  
  


From him to the canister and back to him, she was watching for any sudden movements from him and the blood filling into the canister.

Just a few more seconds.. and she'll use another.

Heh.. what kind of 'hero' is he, just standing there and _letting_ her do this.

This was too easy-

She felt a shove on her wrist and saw her arm down in front of her and no one _in_ front of her. The knife gone from her hand and the needle canister not digging into his skin.

She looked up to see the glowing teen on the other side of the room with the knife in his hand and a glare to his eyes. He licked his fingers on his other hand and pressed them against the cut and it healed instantly into new, smooth skin.

She was smirking.

Why was she..-

"So _that's_ how you healed that cut on your face."

The glare made way to confusion on his face. 

She scoffed.

Steven's breath hitched and he backpedaled into the dresser. He summoned a shield as he threw his arm out in front of him.

The girl's skin was pooling down her face and the legs under her skirt like thick, jell or mud.

"So that's what we're doing, huh?" her lips said before being engulfed with the jell of her skin. 

It looked like something off of a horror movie.

He didn't know what to think.

If she was sick, if this was something else that could hurt him-

His heart jolted in his chest.

Her blonde hair growing darker into black, curls.

Her body getting taller as jeans formed under her skirt..

Her long socks and shoes turning into.. his pink flip flops..

And.. brown eyes were looking back at him as her skin solidified into.. his own face.

_She's a Gem?!_

_Another HOMEWORLD Gem?!_

"Y, you're..-"

She clipped the near full canister back into its holder on the side of her mask.

"You're a Gem!" 

"Awwee." she mocked bashfully. "If that's how you see me~" and her voice sounded exactly like his..

She opened one of the green boxes along her belt and took out another knife and closed it back. "I think you're quite a gem too." he saw her skin turn pink.. just.. just like his.. "Something, truly one of a kind." she murmured-

She charged towards him as fast _he_ could, with his own diamond speed, quick and direct before he could react with anything more than to brace his self with his shield. 

In an instant he saw a flash of pink and a shape of his own shield as he was tackled back to the floor with the weapon.

He heard a crash and the sound of glass shattering and falling to the porch.

He left the knife on the carpet as he pushed his self up and ran to the gaping hole of the sliding door. He ignored the cool wind chill over his bare skin. His towel moved softly in the breeze.

She was gone.

He took a step and jumped, clearing over the glass and the porch itself and the banister. He made a rapid nosedive towards the ground as he saw her running from the building and down the alleyway into another opening of tall high rises.

_Oh, NO you don't!_

He threw his shield and summoned another one.

She saw the shadow of the shield across the ground and looked back to see it rushing straight for her. She pulled her torso hard to the side as it careened pass her mask. 

She saw him land on the ground and break into a full charge towards her.

He threw another shield and summoned a third and threw it as he summoned one on each arm.

Two shields flew towards her and she summoned a bubble around her. 

The two weapons crashed into the surface of the bubble and ricocheted off and towards him.

He gasped and ducked down to dodge the first and fumbled to his side to dodge the second, losing the momentum in his run. 

_Who IS this Gem?!_

She could transform into him perfectly even down to his own voice unlike other Gems could..

She could go pink, she had his super speed, his shield, his bubble!

Was she another Diamond?!

Another _Pink_ Diamond?!

Why did he feel that this has something to do with his mother..

.. because it was ALWAYS her. It's ALWAYS her. EVERYTHING always lead to her!

His teeth clenched as he brought his hands into fists.

Another burst, another force of power coursed through him as his legs pushed off faster in determination towards her.

Of course this has something to do with her.

Just another one of her secrets, just another one of her Homeworld problems, RIGHT!!

He knew it was.

And he was going to have to fix _this_ mistake too just like all of her others.

.. because that's what he _ALWAYS_ did..

Every. single. TIME!

He raised an arm straight out as he looked in the direction she was running towards.

A pink, thin wall etched in rhombuses appeared in front of her.

She slid across the cement and stopped. 

She turned to her side to run off when another wall appeared and another appeared on the other side as she pivoted around.

She turned to the only opening left as he closed the distance between them and formed two more barriers, one behind him and one above them to block the both of them in, before forming one domed barrier around the cubed encasing. 

She was looking around, more impressed than even remotely worried or scared. 

She had a casual hand on her waist as the complacent grin stayed on her face. She looked at the five barriers forming the square and the one arcing dome above them. 

She looked back down at him. "Wow.. just another quirk of yours." she said.. through his voice. "You're just filled with amazing quirks, aren't you?" 

He was fuming.

He didn't know what quirks were. His assumption was wrong and he didn't care anymore.

She wasn't human. She was a Gem, so that means that he _could've_ proofed her. But he didn't.

He _didn't_.

Now he was stuck face to face with her and trying to figure out HOW he was going to poof her.

"Trying to plot your way out of this?.. Hero?" she smirked.

And wiping that stupid grin off of her face.

He extended his arms out in one rapid motion and wrapped them several times around her bubble. He squeezed.

 _"And_ flexibility." she sounded so cheerful and giddy. "You're just a jack of all trades aren't you?" 

He barely heard what she'd said to him as he tried crushing the bubble with all his strength focused into one point.

"Hmph." she smiled. She looked at the muscles of his arms contracting. "I wonder if this bubble can.." 

Steven was trying to shatter the bubble. Crack it, put any dents or scratches on it, anything. 

Even if apart of him knew that the bubble, if it was anything like his which it most likely was, was near indestructible-

He felt pressure under his arms as the surface of the bubble pushed up towards him.

He grunted, trying to hold his arms together. He grabbed both hands and strained as he tried forcing more weight unto the steadily growing bubble.

"Try not to resist~ Let's see how far your flexibility can go." she extended the bubble and he cried out. He extended his arms out more as the bubble, double, tripled in size and continued to grow.

He let out another cry as his shaky limbs struggled to keep up with the size of the bubble.

"Looks like you're reaching your limit." she giggled.

Steven grunted and hollered out again as his arms pulled from his sides and burned as the nerves in his arms began to reach their limit.

The giggles from the teen slowly turned into a low chuckle that gave way to laughter.. slowly it became more maniacal. "Tick... Tock.." she looked at his pained, sweaty face. "I think you better stop before you snap." he shot his eyes at her. "Or don't stop." she shrugged. "You rip your limbs, that means it'll be more blood for me to see."

What was..

What was with this Gem!

She-!

Steven grunted out louder.

The bubble was only getting bigger. 

The teen laughed louder at him. "Only a matter of time~"

The pink dome began to shrink in on them.

"Hm?" she looked up and saw the five walls vanish in fragments of light as the dome closed in closer.

She looked back at him and nodded slowly. "Trying to stop my bubble from getting bigger." she tilted her head with a smile. "Clever."

The dome shrunk down onto her bubble that'd grown five times its size. 

Steven's arms were still trembling around the bubble.

"You're not looking too good there, hero." she mocked.

He swallowed.

He focused on his weak, burning arms around the forcefield.

"But I think you're out of your tricks." 

Or is he..

She smirked.

"Not.. quite." he said through his clenched teeth.

He narrowed his eyes at her.

She folded her arms. The expression on her face was nothing but smug and amusement. "Yeah?" 

A pink diamond barrier, formed around her from the inside of her bubble. She watched as it pushed itself against the interior of her bubble.

She looked at him. Right into his glaring eyes. "The tables haven't turn yet."- 

The barrier extended outwards and broke through the bubble. 

He shot his extended arms out towards her as she held out her own arms, practically knowing exactly where his hands would be as she grabbed them. She pushed away as she extended out her arms to widen the gap between them.

He pushed her back and her flip flops slid across the ground before she held her ground.

"You're soo strong." she murmured. He heard a chuckle. "I want to be just like you." she cooed.

Is that why she looks like me?!

Is this some sick game?!

Isn't she after me?!

What's going-!

She lunged towards him as she shortened her arms. 

He backpedaled as he pulled his arms to the side and he felt the crook of her arm hit his throat. The force of the hit caused him to gag and she used the momentum of her speed to spin towards the back of him all while she held onto his arms and pulled his own down in front of him. 

He felt his arms pull towards his neck as the weight of her lifted from his back with her jumping off of him. He stumbled back and felt a hard tackle towards his back and fell down hard into the ground.

A sharp pain hit his face as the blade of her knife sliced his cheek. "There.. much better." she chuckled. "Now you look even more desirable." 

He snapped his eye wide open and looked up at her.

She was blushing and she had that creepy, Cheshire grin on her face.

She leaned in. "I got you now." she bit her lip. "Looks like the cat has caught the mouse."

He struggled under her.

What was she going to do?!

What did she WANT from him?!

WHY couldn't he just-!

He grunted, struggling harder to move under her with both of his own arms wrapped once around his neck.

She kept a hard grip on his hands on the back of his shoulders.

"Just.. who are you!!" he grunted frantically, trying to get out of her grasp. "What do you WANT from me!" 

It could've been anything stemming form some kind of revenge.

Something that his mother did.

Something that he did.

Something that his _mother_ did-

"I just. want. _you."_ he heard her laughing.

He shot her a glare.

She leaned down towards his face. "And you and I.. are going to get so.. sooo close.." he saw her stick her tongue out as she leaned in closer to his face.

Her tongue lapped across the cut across his cheek.

He watched her lick her lips slowly before sliding her tongue back into her mouth. A euphoric look came to her face. A sultry, hungry look was in her dilated eyes and the blush spread farther across her cheeks. The grin stretched wider as she panted deeply, shakily into his ear.

"I just can't get enough of you.. Steven Demayo Universe." her breath sent a grimacing chill off the edge of his ear. "My sweet hero~"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had to stop the chapter here. Otherwise it would've been way too long of a chapter. Hopefully I'll post the second half soon 🤔
> 
> Anywho, as usual, hope y'all enjoyed le chapter =)
> 
> For everyone who has been reading up until now, thanks so much! !وشكرا جزيلا. ¡Muchas gracias! Merci beaucoup! 多谢了！Aaaaand どうもありがとうございました！ 💝💝
> 
> And uh.. that's all I know xP


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